75th State level Republic Day celebration was observed here and Governor Sri Raghubar Das unfurled National Flag at 8.30AM. Sri Das received salute in the parade. Chief Minister Sri Naveen Patnaik was present as Guest of Honour.
Mahatma Gandhi Marg in State Capital was nicely decorated and the atmosphere reverberated with patriotic tunes and Police Bands. Governor Sri Das was welcomed by Chief Secretary Sri Pradeep Kumar Jena, ACS, Home, Sri Deoranjan Kumar Singh, Director General of Police Sri Arun Kumar Sarangi and Deputy Director General, NCC Commodore Sri J. Suresh and was escorted to the Flag Post.
Governor Sri Raghubar Das unfurled the National Flag at 8.30 AM. All together 50 troops from various services and educational institutions participated in the parade while it was supervised by Miss A.B. Shilpa, ASP, Ganjam and was assisted by Santosh Kumar Biswal, Deputy Commandant, 9th SIR Battalion, Kalahandi, assisted by Bhabani Prasad Jena, ACP, 7th Battalion, Bhubaneswar as Adjutant and Parameswar Hansada, Asst. Commissioner, 7th Battalion, Bhubaneswar as Special Officer.
After the parade, various cultural troops presented bewitching programmes including Tribal Dance by Baipariguda, Koraput, Jodisankha/Ranapa by Bhanjabihar, Ganjam, Sahijata and Medhanacha by Puri District and Sambalpuri Dance by Padmapur, Bargarh.
Different Government Departments had presented tableaux showcasing their achievements. Departments of Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment, Health and Family Welfare, Commerce and Transport, Handlooms, Textiles and Handicrafts, Skill Development and Technical Education, Housing and Urban Development, Tourism, ST & SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare, School and Mass Education, Fisheries and ARD, Panchayati Raj and Drinking Water, Works, OMC and Fire Services presented tableaux on Mukhyamantri Krushi Udyog Yojana, KALIA Scholarship, Ama Hospital, Ghare Ghare Laxmi, Karuna Resham, Nua Odisha Mission, Sudakshya Yojana, Drink From Tap, Transformation in Tourism Service Sector, JAHIRA, 5-T School Transformation, Fisheries and Prawn Culture through Bioflock, Cage Culture, Ama Odisha Nabin Odisha, Infrastructure Development Projects, Social Responsibility respectively.
Among others Development Commissioner-cum-ACS Smt. Anu Garg, Secretaries of different Departments, Principal Secretary, I&PR Sri Sanjay Kumar Singh, Director I&PR Sri Saroj Kumar Samal, Director (Technical) Sri Surendranath Parida along with senior officers were present in the programme.
Sucheta Priyadarsini, DD (Field), Rojalin Sahu and Tanuja Mohanty Information Officer, I&PR Department coordinated the programme.
