Coimbatore: The 72nd Republic day was celebrated in a subdued manner at VOC Park in the city on Tuesday. Collector K Rajamani hoisted the tricolour flag and accepted the guard of honour from armed forces, home guards, fire and rescue personnel and National Cadet Corps (NCC). All the cultural events were cancelled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The collector distributed the Chief Minister’s police medal to 124 personnel both from the city and rural police department. He also honored 92 government officials for their outstanding work and four government bus drivers for operating buses without any accidents for the past 25 years, a statement from the collector’s office said.
Similarly, corporation commissioner P Kumaravel Pandian hoisted the flag at the corporation office and honored 10 workers who had done exemplary work during the pandemic to control the spread of Covid-19 infection. He also distributed Rs 2,000 along with a certificate to 10 workers who had completed 25 years of their service without any remarks.
Meanwhile, Tirupur collector K Vijayakarthikeyan hoisted the flag at Chikkanna government Arts College ground and witnessed the parade of police personnel. He distributed the Chief Minister’s police medal to 55 cops and felicitated 286 people including police personnel, government employees and volunteers for their outstanding works. Welfare measures to the tune of Rs 6.31 crore were distributed to 222 beneficiaries.
INS Agrani, a premier training establishment of Indian Navy, celebrated the Republic day at its premises. The commanding officer laid a wreath on Veer Sthal after inspecting the parade. Proficiency awards were given to healthcare workers and Naval and defence civilian personnel.
Panchayat president of Ikkarai Poluvampatti Sadanandam hoisted the flag at the Republic day function celebrated at Isha yoga centre in the city and the event was attended by people from villages in the surrounding area.
Several colleges including CMS College of Science and Commerce, Rathinam Arts and Science College and Avinashilingam Institute for Home Science and Higher Education for Women celebrated the Republic day by hoisting the National flag on their college premises.
Five students of NIFT TEA created a small art installation in their campus showing what every state is known for, trying to replicate the idea of the Republic Day parade. They created miniature installations and paintings within the installation to show each state’s specialty—like portraying temples in the state to show Tamil Nadu is famous for temples, coconut shells to show coconut trees abound in Kerala, mural paintings for Karnataka among others.