Select Few Invited For I-Day This Year

PM to unfurl Tricolour at Red Fort but no large assembly due to Covid

- Jitendra Bahadur Singh and Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will unfurl the national flag and deliver a speech at the Red Fort in Delhi on the 74th Independence Day on August 15. The celebrations, however, this year will be different in view of the country still in the middle of the coronavirus pandemic.

This year, the scene at the Red Fort might just be the reflection of what the country has been witnessing since March when the coronavirus pandemic broke out, prompting a lockdown to discourage gatherings to break the transmission of the infection.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there would be no performances by the school kids. Instead, 300 NCC cadets would be invited. Social distancing will be maintained, and the staff will be in PPE kits.

Instead of the 900-1,000 invitees every year at the Red Fort, around 200-250 people will be present as the prime minister addresses the nation, sources told India Today TV.