I-Day: Centre orders compulsory attendance for officers, DMRC to provide free rides

New Delhi: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi readies himself to speak from the Red Fort on 68th Independence Day, the central government on Tuesday issued a diktat to all its officers. Sources say the government has made it compulsory for all its officials in the national capital to attend PM Modi’s maiden Independence Day speech.

A government source said, “It (The Independence Day) is a public function and efforts should made that whosoever comes should feel welcomed.”

The Union Urban Development Minister Venkaiah Naidu also met Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi, Ministry of Defense officials and Delhi MPs on Tuesday in this regard. 

The government sources also informed that in order to ease the movement around the Red Fort, frisking and other security checks would be conducted in buses in which commuters will be travelling to hear PM speak rather than at the venue’s entrance.

In a goodwill gesture, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) is likely to wave off passenger fares on the Red Fort route on August 15.