NEW DELHI — Prime Minister Narendra Modi will hoist the national flag at the Red Fort on August 15 to mark India’s 80th Independence Day, with most of the roughly 5,000 special invitees drawn from beneficiaries of central government welfare schemes rather than the political or diplomatic circuit typically associated with VIP guest lists, according to a Press Information Bureau advisory issued Thursday.
The ceremony will highlight the “150 Years of Vande Mataram” and be themed “Yuva Shakti for Viksit Bharat@2047,” the advisory read. It also stated that the national song would be performed on a public platform (the Red Fort for the occasion) for the first time by cadets and volunteers, following the Prime Minister’s speech, and followed by the singing of the national anthem.
About 600 winners of Independence Day-related contests, including an essay contest on AI’s role in building a ‘Viksit Bharat’, a painting contest on India 1947 vs India 2047, and quiz contests on the Constitution, women freedom fighters, and space and nuclear programs, will also be invited, the advisory said. The contests were conducted by the Ministry of Defense in collaboration with MyGov, and separately by the DoE, the Delhi government, and the Delhi Police.
The composition matches what political scientists call the “labharthi varg” or beneficiary class – something that, as public policy scholar Yamini Aiyar explains, “has recently begun to structure political mobilization in Indian welfare politics before older dichotomies of caste, class and religion”. “A techno-patrimonial state,” where welfare recognition provides “a very neutral social base of beneficiaries around which mobilization can take place,” is the model, Aiyar told The Phenomenal World in an interview. Elsewhere in The India Forum, researchers noted that if citizens are understood as recipients of individual entitlements rather than subjects of collective rights, they are then positioned differently in relation to the state.
Seating enclosures at Red Fort, earlier renamed after Indian rivers to avoid creating special enclosures for VIP guests during the Republic Day parade this year, have been renamed after 24 major lakes, including Chilika, Pulicat, Loktak, and Pangong Tso, in line with an effort to discourage ‘VIP culture’ and highlight the significance of water conservation.
The advisory also contained event details such as 25 cloakrooms in 6 locations, wheelchair assistance from National Cadet Corps volunteers at Metro Stations, parking spaces, free Delhi Metro travel for all attendees from 4 am, and rain ponchos for attendees in case of rain. Over 1,500 citizens from states and UTs are expected to attend in traditional attire, and 2,500 NCC cadets and “MY Bharat” volunteers will sit in front of the ramparts to spell out.
The Guard of Honour inspection, 21-gun salutes by the 1721 Field Battery, Mi-17 helicopters showering flower petals during a flypast, and musical renderings by bands will be performed at 343 places across the country, per the advisory. In this year’s Republic Day too, such enclosure naming was done, this time using river names, and the PIB has cited it as the beginning of the ruling party’s promised shift away from allocating separate VIP seating for national events.
Clear Cut Awards & Events Desk
New Delhi, UPDATED: August 15, 2026 09:00 IST
Written By: Yatharth Pathak
