GREATER NOIDA: Gautam Budh Nagar celebrated the 80th Independence Day with district-wide ceremonies, where the administration emphasised civic responsibility and public service. The administration also honoured personnel for distinguished service and families of five policemen who died in the line of duty.
District magistrate Medha Roopam unfurled the national flag at the collectorate. Roopam honoured Sandhya Gupta, daughter of the late freedom fighter Shiv Narayan Gupta, and felicitated students from Dharam Public School, Greater Noida, for their cultural performances. Stressing civic responsibility, Roopam urged residents to contribute to cleanliness drives and encourage people around them to adopt cleanliness practices. She also called for greater community support for people in need and suggested that occasions such as birthdays and anniversaries could be used to help vulnerable people.
Addressing officials, employees and residents, Roopam said Independence Day should be viewed as more than a ceremonial occasion. “We should celebrate this day not merely as a one-day festival, but as a resolve to understand and discharge our duties and responsibilities towards the country,” she said. For government officials and employees, the DM stressed the importance of sincerity in public service and asked them to work with “complete dedication and honesty” in their respective fields to accelerate development work.
Kashyap emphasised the role of young people in the country’s future and referred to the Centre’s goal of making India a developed nation by 2047, calling for collective participation towards it. Back in Noida, the Shaheed Smarak in Sector 29 became another focal point of the day’s commemorations, with the Noida Shaheed Smarak Sanstha honouring the next of kin of 45 martyrs from Gautam Buddh Nagar. Children of Army Public School, Sector 37, accompanied by their mini band, rendered the national anthem.
He also felicitated meritorious girl students, while students presented patriotic songs, dances and theatrical performances based on the freedom struggle. In neighbouring Ghaziabad, the district administration held a tribute and felicitation ceremony at the Shaheed Smarak, where cabinet minister Sunil Kumar Sharma, district magistrate Ravindra Kumar Mandar, municipal commissioner Vikramaditya Singh Malik and chief development officer Kumar Saurabh paid floral tributes to martyrs. Lt Gen Rakesh Chadha, executive director of the memorial, unfurled the national flag, after which families of the martyrs, veterans and residents paid floral tributes at the cenotaph.
