On 30 January 2024, Ajay Bhatt, Minister of State (MoS), Ministry of Defence honoured the best marching contingents and tableaux awards for the Republic Day (R-Day) Parade 2024. The awards were announced based on 2 separate results, one by a panel of judges and the other through an online public vote conducted by the MyGov platform.
- A total of 25 tableaux – 16 States and Union Territories (UTs) and 9 Ministries/Departments participated in the 75th R-Day Parade 2024 at Kartavya Path.
Note: A trophy representation ceremony was organised at RR Camp in Delhi Cantonment to honour the achievements.
Panel Assessment:
3 panels of judges were appointed to assess the performance of:
- Marching Contingents from 3 Services;
- Marching Contingents from Central Armed Police Forces (CAPF)/other auxiliary forces; and
- Tableaux from various States/UTs and Ministries/Departments.
Online Public Vote:
i.A web page was created on the MyGov platform for online registration of citizens for watching the R-Day Parade and ‘Beating the Retreat Ceremony 2024’ online.
ii.MyGov platform conducted an online poll for the citizens to vote for their favourite Tableaux and the Marching contingents to select the best amongst popular choice categories.
- The online poll for the popular choice was conducted between January 25-27, 2024 on the MyGov web page.
Highlights:
i.The Delhi Police Women’s Marching Contingent won the award in Best Marching Contingent among CAPF/other auxiliary forces Category by a panel of judges. It was led by 2019-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Shweta K Sugathan.
- This was the 1st time that Delhi police deployed an all-women marching contingent during the R-Day parade.
ii.The Tamil Nadu tableaux has bagged 3rd place by the panel of judges.
- It highlighted the importance of the Kudavolai system, a democratic system of electing the local body representatives that prevailed during the Chola era.
iii.Rajputana Rifles Regimental Marching Contingent won the People’s Choice award for the Best Marching Contingent among the 3 services.
iv.The Ministry of Culture Tableau on ‘Bharat: Mother of Democracy’ won the Best Tableau (Ministries/Departments) by the panel of judges.
Beating Retreat Ceremony:
i.The Beating Retreat ceremony is a significant event that marks the culmination of the 4-day-long Republic Day celebrations in India. The ceremony will play 31 captivating and foot-tapping Indian tunes.
ii.It takes place at Vijay Chowk in New Delhi, Delhi on the evening of January 29 every year, 3 days after Republic Day. The Chief Guest of the function is the President of India, Droupadi Murmu.
iii.Indian tunes highlighting the sacrifices & patriotism of soldiers will be played by bands of the Indian Army, Indian Navy, Indian Air Force, and CAPFs.
iv.The principal conductor of the ceremony was Lt Col Vimal Joshi.
- ‘Beating Retreat’ traces its origins to the early 1950s when Major Roberts of the Indian Army indigenously developed the unique ceremony of display by the massed bands
Result of best marching contingents and tableaux awards for the Republic Day Parade (By Panel of Judges):
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Marching Contingent among the three services | Sikh Regiment Contingent |
| Best Marching Contingent among CAPF/other auxiliary forces | Delhi Police Women Marching Contingent |
| Best three Tableaux (States/UTs) | First – Odisha (Woman Empowerment in Viksit Bharat) |
| Second – Gujrat (Dhordo : A Global Icon Of Gujarat’s Border Tourism) | |
| Third – Tamil Nadu (Kudavolai System in ancient Tamil Nadu – Mother of Democracy) | |
| Best Tableau (Ministries/Departments) | Ministry of Culture – (Bharat : Mother of Democracy) |
| Special Prize | Central Public Works Department (Central Vista -Viksit Bharat Ka Pratibimb) |
| Special Memento | Vande Bharatam – Dance Group |
Result of best marching contingents and tableaux awards for the Republic Day Parade (By Online poll on MyGov):
| Category | Winner |
|---|---|
| Best Marching Contingent among the three services | Rajputana Rifles Regimental Marching Contingent |
| Best Marching Contingent among CAPF/other auxiliary forces | CRPF Woman Marching Contingent |
| Best three Tableaux (States/UTs) | First – Gujrat (Dhordo : A Global Icon Of Gujarat’s Border Tourism) |
| Second – Uttar Pradesh (Viksit Bharat Samradh Virasat) | |
| Third – Andhra Pradesh (Transforming School Education in Andhra Pradesh – Making Students Globally Competitive) | |
| Best Tableau (Central Ministries/Departments) | Ministry of Home Affairs (Vibrant Villages) |
Recent related News:
On 21st October 2023, Union Minister Rajnath Singh, Ministry of Defence inaugurated the 1st edition of the Indian Military Heritage Festival (2023) at the Manekshaw Centre in New Delhi, Delhi.
About Ministry of Defence:
Union Minister- Rajnath Singh (Constituency: Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh)
Minister of State– Ajay Bhatt (Constituency: Nainital-Udhamsingh Nagar, Uttarakhand)
