Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Tuesday flagged off a special train carrying around 1,000 representatives from 19 Naxal-free districts of Odisha to Ekta Nagar in Gujarat to participate in the Rashtriya Ekta Divas (National Unity Day) parade on October 31.
The parade will be held at the Statue of Unity to mark the 151st birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first deputy prime minister, whose role in integrating more than 550 princely states after Independence earned him the title of the Iron Man of India.
Flagging off the train at the Bhubaneswar new railway station, Majhi said the delegation will represent Odisha which has overcome Naxalism and is moving rapidly towards development.
He credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guidance, Union Home minister Amit Shah’s leadership and the efforts of security forces at the national and state levels for the progress towards eliminating Naxalism.
The chief minister said the National Unity Day parade this year would reflect the vision of a Naxal-free India. He also lauded Modi for instituting the annual observance of Rashtriya Ekta Divas in 2014 to honour Patel’s contribution to national integration.
“Infrastructure development and socio-economic progress in the Naxal-free districts remain a priority of the government. Under the Gramodaya Plus scheme, welfare programmes are being implemented in an integrated manner across 10 affected districts to ensure benefits reach eligible beneficiaries and help them join the mainstream,” Majhi added.
He said collective efforts by the people of the country was essential to realise Modi’s vision of ‘Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat’. On the occasion, the CM announced that the Centre has approved a new express train service between Puri and Badampahar in Mayurbhanj district.
President Droupadi Murmu is scheduled to inaugurate the service in the first week of November. The proposed train service is expected to strengthen rail connectivity across six districts of Puri, Khurda, Cuttack, Jajpur, Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj.