National Integration Day – Birth Anniversary of Sardar Patel – 31 October
National Unity Day, also known as National Unity day, is celebrated on 31st of October every year by people from all over India. The birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel is celebrated as National Unity Day, which really united the country. National Integration Day was introduced by the Government of India on 31 October in the year 2014 with the aim of celebrating this event every year.
The purpose of starting this event is to pay tribute to the great man of the country, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, who worked really hard in keeping India united, remembering his extraordinary works on his birth anniversary. National Integration Day 2019 will be celebrated by people across India on Thursday, 31 October. It will be celebrated as the 144th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Why National Unity day is celebrated: –
National Integration Day is celebrated as the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, a well-known personality who united India. This day was decided by the Central Government of India in New Delhi in the year 2014 and since then every year, Patel’s birth anniversary is celebrated as National Unity Day. Its purpose was to pay tribute to him for his great efforts to unite India.
The day was launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2014 by flagging off a wreath at the statue of Sardar Patel and a program known as “Run For Unity” in New Delhi. Celebrating this occasion every year helps to awaken the youth of the country and gives everyone an opportunity to maintain the integral power of the nation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi dedicated the world’s highest “Statue of Unity” to the nation at Kevadia in Narmada district of Gujarat. The Prime Minister also unveiled the “Wall of Unity”, a wall built with earth samples collected from various states across the country.
- Statue of Unity is a dream project of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The project was announced by Narendra Modi on 31 October 2013, when he was the Chief Minister of Gujarat.
- For the development of the project, Narendra Modi launched a nationwide campaign to collect iron to create the Statue of Unity and iron was collected from about seven lakh villages across the country.
- The statue is 182 meters high, twice the size of New York’s Statue of Liberty (93 meters), and more than the height of the Spring Temple Buddha in China (153 meters).
- The project includes an exhibition hall and audio-visual presentation on the life of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
- The main structure will be completed at a cost of Rs 1345 crore, which is a part of the total amount allocated for the project at Rs 2979 crore.
- Of the remaining cost, Rs 235 crore has been spent on the construction of the exhibition hall and convention center. 83 crore rupees have been spent on the bridge to connect the monument to the mainland. And 657 crore rupees have been spent to maintain the structure for the next 15 years.
- Approximately 75000 cubic meters of concrete, 5700 metric tons of steel structure, 18500 steel rods and 22500 metric tons of bronze have been used for this project.
About Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel: –
- Born on October 31, 1875, Sardar Patel was a lawyer by profession.
- He was one of the founding fathers of the Republic of India and one of the architects of modern political India.
- Popularly known as Iron Man, Patel was referred to as ‘Sardar’, which means chief or leader.
- In 1946, during the Congress elections, 13 out of 16 states elected Sardar Patel as their president, compared to Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of independent India. However, at the behest of Mahatma Gandhi, he stepped in as a candidate and supported Jawaharlal Nehru.
- Eventually, Sardar Patel became the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India in 1947.
- He is known for his political integration of more than 500 princely states into the independent Indian Union. He united 565 princely states to be a part of India.
- In 1991, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was posthumously awarded the Bharat Ratna.
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