What is Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav and its Objectives, Significance & Highlights?

India celebrates its 75th Independence Day this year (2022). Several events have been planned ahead to mark the celebrations. Several initiatives taken and programmes organized to make Independence Day of India etched in the minds of those involved including common people. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched this initiative which he calls ” the elixir of energy of Independence”, “elixir of inspirations” of freedom fighters, “elixir of new ideas” and “elixir of Aatmanirbharta”. 

In this article, we will be talking about “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”, Objectives and themes of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav, Inauguration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav with Padyatra, Key highlights of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, Utsav 75 Thane, Har Ghar Tiranga and conclude with “Free entry for monument visitors for India’s 75th Independence Day” and a final thought on the matter. 

Let’s start our reading journey without delaying any further! 

What is Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav? 

• Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav roughly translates to “the Elixir of Independence celebration”. It is an initiative undertaken by the Government of India to celebrate India’s completion of 75 years of independence from the British Raj since 15th August, 1947. The country also celebrates its rich history, culture, people and achievements in different fields. 
• The Mahotsav is also a Jan-Utsav that is dedicated for the people of India who have helped India progress through gradual evolution. Not simply that, Indians have also enabled Prime Minister Narendra Modi to get closer to his dream of activating India 2.0 with the spirit of an independent nation or more appropriately an Aatmanirbhar Bharat. 
• The initiative started its journey from 12 March 2021 and has been continuing since ending on the Independence Day (15th August) of the year 2023. 

Objectives and Themes of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav  

The objectives of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav is to implement the themes or the five pillars that come with it. The themes are listed as below: 

Freedom Struggle 

• Freedom struggle is all about India’s struggle for freedom from the hands of the British. It is a commemorative initiative by the Government of India that recalls the sacrifices of freedom fighters and their colossal contributions to the nation. 
• The theme of “Freedom Struggle” is a tribute to all such nationalists and unsung heroes who have covered important milestones in history and participated in freedom movements to unfetter the chains that have been bogging India down. The programmes that are an integral part of this theme are Birsa Munda Jayanti, Declaration of Provisional Government of Free India by Netaji, Shaheed Diwas etc.

Ideas@75  

• The period between India@75 and India@100 i.e., 25 years has been hailed as the “Amrit Kaal” or the Era of the Elixir. The theme of Ideas@75 aims to celebrate the ideals that has shaped us and guide Indians in the years to come. Through the events and programmes of Ideas@75 India seeks to bring new contributions. 
• Post cards to the Prime Minister is a campaign where 75 lakh students will write post cards to the PM on “Unsung heroes of Freedom Struggle” and “My Vision for India in 2047”. This initiative was introduced to motivate students to usher in an India that we dream of today. Moreover, the Kashi Utsav celebrates India’s centuries-old luminaries from Kashi like Tulsidas, Sant Kabir, Munshi Premchand etc. 

Resolve@75 

• Resolve@75 is all about having a firm resolve and contributing as an individual, group or society for the betterment of our motherland. Initiatives include celebration of Constitution Day (26 November), Good Governance Week etc. 
• Constitution Day is observed to commemorate the adoption of the Constitution of India while Good Governance Week celebrates the birth anniversary of former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee who was successful in promoting a citizen-centric governance within the country. 

Actions@75  

• Actions@75 calls in for collective efforts of both the government and businesses, NGOs, society to materialize certain ideas into reality so that we can have a better tomorrow. The programme that is inclusive of this initiative is Gati Shakti – National Master Plan for Multi-modal Connectivity. 
• It is a digital platform that invites ministries from different sectors for integrated planning and coordinated implemented of infrastructure projects. The aim is to have SABKA SAATH, SABKA VIKAS, SABKA VISHWAS, SABKA PRAYAS ( collective company, collective progress, collective belief, collective efforts) to build an Aatmanirbhar Bharat (self-reliant India). 

Achievements@75  

• Achievements@75 celebrates our milestones along our evolutionary journey. Events under Achievements@75 include Swarnim Vijay Varsh that commemorates the proud moment of India’s victory of 1971 against Pakistan. 
• In this short-lived war, the Pakistan chief General Amir Abdullah Khan Niazi had surrendered before India along with his 93,000 troops. The programme also include initiatives like the launch of Shreshtha Yojana during Mahaparinirvan Diwas. Shrestha Yojana is a scheme for the socio-economic upliftment of the backward castes for better education in private residential schools.   

Inauguration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav with Padyatra  

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” on 12th March 2021.  The event was held in Ahmedabad, Gujarat and the Prime Minister also visited Hridaya Kunj at Sabarmati Ashram where Gandhiji and his wife lived from 1918 to 1930. The celebration was launched from major cities that were witness to India’s freedom struggle in British India. 
• Some of these popular hubs include Sabarmati Ashram ( the first Civil Disobedience Movement started with Gandhiji’s Dandi March) , Jallianwala Bagh (the site of Jallianwala Bagh Massacre) , Cellular jail (the jail housed several political prisoners)  in Andaman and Nicobar Islands etc.  
• The inaugural event also included presenting floral garlands to Mahatma Gandhi and felicitation. The Mahotsav started with Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagging off group of Padyatris from Sabarmati Ashram for Dandi March. 

Key Highlights of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav  

• PM Narendra Modi inaugurates the curtain raiser events of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav with the theme India@75. He inaugurated a website named “Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav”, a film, a song, Aatmanirbhar incubator and Aatmanirbhar Charkha. 
• Aatmanirbhar Incubator is to train artisans, particularly in the cotton value chain thus helping 40,000 households engage in the conventional art. Aatmanirbhar Charkha is a spinning wheel that would rotate full circle with each tweet about buying a product made locally on a social media platform. This initiative enforces a self-reliant or Aatmanirbhar Bharat. 

• The Centre has formed a board that would be presided by Home Minister Amit Shah. The panel would be responsible for drafting policies and plan out different events that would be part of the Mahotsav. 
• The Regional Outreach Bureau has set up a handicraft exhibition in Rajasthan that would last 5 days. 
• Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav is being organised at 52 district offices of Madhya Pradesh that has witnessed struggle for India’s independence by freedom fighters of the nation like Niwari district of Tatya Tope, Alirajpur of Chandrashekhar Azad, Jabalpur of Rani Durgavati etc. 
• In Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, the activities included cycle jatha, planting trees and processions to commemorate freedom fighters and their contributions to India. 
• An awareness initiative has been introduced as part of the “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav” by the Mumbai Central Zoo Authority titled “Conservation to Co-existence: The people connect”. The initiative aims for the conservation of 75 wild animal species in 75 zoos like smooth coated otters by creating mass awareness about them. The program has allotted each species for every zoo for the one-week outreach initiative. 

Utsav 75 Thane  

• Utsav 75 Thane was celebrated in Thane city of Maharashtra in association with Thane Municipal Corporation and several other social organisations of the state. This celebration was part of the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav. Inter-school and inter-college competitions took place where a large number of students participated. 
• The participants were actively involved in elocution contests, painting competitions, essay-writing, group dance, singing contests etc. Students also registered online to participate in the contests and several other enrolled as walk-ins at the venue. The competition was held in three main languages, Marathi, Hindi and English in their respective medium schools. 

Har Ghar Tiranga  

• Har Ghar Tiranga is a campaign that is part of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. It encourages people to purchase flags and hoist it to celebrate 75th Independence Day in their homes. Flags have been selling out at subsidized prices. 
• Typically, khadi flags were sold out which cost nearly Rs 700. Under the newly launched campaign of “Har Ghar Tiranga” of the Modi government, flags are sold out an incredibly lower value of Rs 25. These flags are made of polyester. 
• By bringing the national flag at home, people will be more aware of India’s tale of Independence and feel proud about their country. 

Free entry for monument visitors for India’s 75th Independence Day   

• On the occasion of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrating 75th Independence Day, the Archaeological Survey of India has made Entries to protected monuments or sites free of cost for 10 days starting from 5th August 2022 and ending in 15th August in 2022. The Central Government has announced that all heritage sites will be lit up in tricolors except Taj Mahal. 
• The white marble architecture would be excluded because of an incident where deposits formed on its surface by insects attracted by light that resulted in imbalances in the composition of the structure. Previously, the Taj Mahal was lit up on the night of March 20, 1997 while the performance of famous pianist Yanni was staged. It was because of the findings that Taj Mahal would be excluded from the list of lot up monuments marking the celebration of Independence Day of India. 

Final Thought! 

India’s Independence is a hard-earned one. Several people have sacrificed their lives to secure India’s future. We live free only because fighters of the past took consistent actions against domination and injustice. Great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, all have their indelible contributions in developing India’s identity as a free and independent nation. The Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav celebrates this very spirit of indomitability, truth and progress which are the hallmarks of the nation. 

With subsidized rates, do you think more people would engage in the “Har Ghar Tiranga” campaign by buying flags to hoist in their homes?