Mangaluru : DK District in-charge Minister U T Khader unfurled the national flag on occasion of the 69th Republic Day celebration at the Nehru Maidan on January 26, Saturday.

Speaking after receiving the guard of honour Minister U T Khader said, This is the day on which our Constitution was adopted, and dreams of Indians turned into reality and their lives got value and recognition, the need for unity and harmony in a vast nation like India which is known for its diversity.

The Indian Constitution that has raised their standards of living and given them equal rights to  the poor people, working class, women, and people belonging to deprived sections of the society, the constitution along with other scholars of the country and made the country a republic. “The first ever meeting of the Constitution drafting committee was held on December 9, 1946. The committee took 35 months to complete the framing of the constitution after holding lots of discussions and making about 2,000 ammendments. The Constitution was adopted on January 26, 1950,” he said.

The state government had launched ‘Badavara Bandhu’ scheme for helping the street vendors to come out of the vicious clutches of money lenders. This scheme has come into force within the city limits here,” he added. “We are building 221 foot bridges for the convenience of school children at a cost of Rs 30 crore. Out of them, 80 foot bridges are being constructed in the first phase, for which tenders have been floated, Ksheeera Bhagya’ scheme, 1,01,579 children have benefitted and an amount of Rs 394.97 lakh has been spent.

He also informed that under ‘Bhagyalaxmi’ scheme of the government, Rs 247.22 lav was paid towards insurance premium of 1,284 beneficiaries. He also pointed out that the government has increased the reservation quota for the specialy abled from three to five percent.

“Under ‘Arogya Karnataka’ scheme, Rs 927.07 lac has been paid towards 1,902 beneficiaries. Under ‘Arogya Bharat’ scheme, 920 beneficiaries were covered to the extent of Rs 381.5 lac,” he explained.

1,05,135 applications for regularisation of land under rule 94 c were received, out of which 44,904 have been disposed off and title deeds distributed. Under 94cc, 38,282 applications were received, and title deeds were issued in 18,612 cases, he stated.

Sundar Poojary, Mahesh Kumar, Prakash Shetty, K N Sudhakar, Harini P and Babu Nayak were presented the ‘Sarvothama Seva’ awards for distinguished service.

ADC Dr Kumar, was felicitated for getting the state award for being the best additional district election officer.

Abdul Gafoor (home guard), Ganesh (reserve police), Manjunath (police sub-inspector), T H Shivashankar (fire service) and M T Pradeep (coast guard) were honoured for their selfless service.

Silver medals were presented to the KSRTC driver Sathish, Chandrashekhar,  Ganapatjhi, Eshwara, Duggappa Naik, Ganesh Shetty for safe and accident-free driving.

Bharat Seva Dal and RSP girls bagged shield for their best parade march.

Deputy Commissioner Sasikanth Senthil, City Police Commissioner T R Suresh, District Superintendent of Police B M Laxmi Prasad, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLC Ivan D’Souza, ZP Chief Meenakshi Shanthigodu, Mayor Bhasker Moily and others were present.

A cultural programme was presented by Amrutha Vidyalaya, Canara School Urwa, and Sharada Vidyalaya students.