’, Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda led a gathering of officials and staff from the Union Health Ministry in a pledge to strengthen the unity and integrity of India.){kind=link}
On the eve of ‘Rashtriya Ekta Diwas (National Unity Day)’, Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda led a gathering of officials and staff from the Union Health Ministry in a pledge to strengthen the unity and integrity of India. The place of ceremony was ‘Nirman Bhawan’.
The event aimed to honor the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Jhavarbhai Patel, whose vision and leadership played a pivotal role in unifying the nation.
Sardar Patel was an Indian independence activist and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of India from 1947 to 1950. He was one of the main architects of the unification of India and a political leader addressed as Sardar, meaning “Chief”, in India and throughout the world. Father of the Nation, Mahatma Gandhi gave the title of “Sardar” to Shri Patel for his great organizational skill in ‘The Bardoli Satyagraha’.
Born on October 31, 1875 to Jhavarbhai Patel and Ladba Patel in Nadiad, and he died on 15th December 1950, in Mumbai. Also known as the Iron Man of India, India remembers him as a very strong and dynamic freedom fighter. He had actively contributed to the Indian Freedom Movement. H has been awarded with country’s highest order of “Bharat Ratna” in the year 1991, received posthumously.
Stemming from the Gujarati language, the word ‘Patel’ is derived from the Sanskrit, meaning landowner or village chief. Historically, the Patels held considerable political and social power in the villages of Gujarat, where they acted as intermediaries between the rulers and the local communities.
A self-taught lawyer and a visionary leader, he played a pivotal role in India’s political integration, and led movements against British rule. Post independence of the country, he also skillfully integrated around 565 princely states under the Indian Dominion.
He preached people that “Faith is of no avail in the absence of strength, as both are essential to accomplish any great work. He also propagated that “Manpower without unity is not a strength unless it is harmonized and united properly to ultimately become a spiritual power.”
Sardar Patel is also known as the “Bismarck of India” due to his efforts of consolidating the fragmented parts of a divided India i.e. Princely states and British India into a nation and prevented “balkanization” of India.
He supported M K Gandhi during his time in jail by the Satyagraha movement in 1923 in Nagpur when there was a ban against raising the Indian Flag. He gathered many volunteers who supported him in this movement and also reached a settlement negotiating the release of other prisoners and allowing public hoisting of the national flag. The steep tax issues again rose when there was a famine in April 1928 after his return to fulfil his municipality duties and this time he was able to gain even more support to completely negate the tax payment.
“Fundamental Rights and Economic Policy” resolution was passed in 1931 under Sardar Patel’s chairmanship. Sardar Patel was arrested along with Gandhi in 1932 and was released two years later in 1934. He was also sent to prison again in 1940 for a period of 9 months when Sardar Patel supported Gandhi in the Quit India Movement during the outbreak of the second world war. And after release, he participated in the Civil Disobedience Movement for the British to finally Quit India. Once again, he got arrested in August 1942 and was not released till June 16th 1945.
Patel was initially apprehensive of Gandhi’s philosophy of non-violence but later embraced it as he understood its importance and power. Upon his release in 1945, it came to his knowledge that the British are indeed considering the transfer of power to India. His valiant struggles garnered him the title of “Iron Man Of India”.
When the first elections of independence were held in India, Dr Rajendra Prasad became the first President of India, and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel became the First Deputy Prime Minister. In the years 1948 and 1949, he was awarded many honorary doctorates of law by various universities like Nagpur University, the University of Allahabad and Banaras Hindu University, subsequently from Osmania University and Punjab University.
Union MoS for Health and Family Welfare Prataprao Jadhav and Union Health Secretary Punya Salila Srivastava were also present on this eve.
During the ceremony, Shri Nadda emphasized the importance of national unity in fostering a cohesive and progressive society. He stated, “We reaffirm our commitment to the principles of unity and integrity that Sardar Patel championed. It is our collective responsibility to ensure that our actions and policies reflect the spirit of inclusiveness and diversity that makes India unique.”
The event included a reading of the pledge, where all participants vowed to work towards strengthening the bonds of unity among the diverse cultures, languages, and traditions of India.
The Union Health Ministry remains committed to its mission of improving public health and ensuring that the principles of unity and equality are upheld in all its initiatives.
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