All India Radio's Republic Day tableau to feature PM's 'Mann ki Baat'

This year, for the first time, a tableau of All India Radio (AIR) will lead a series of 23 tableaux during the Republic Day Parade; it will feature Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monthly address, "Mann Ki Baat".

AIR said the tableau will have various scenes depicting its journey, like Mahatma Gandhi's maiden and only broadcast in the wake of communal riots after Partition and Prime Minister Modi's monthly address.

There will be a total of 23 tableaux in the parade, out of which 14 will represent different states and Union Territories, Defence PRO Nampibou Marinmai told reporters here today.


The rest will be of ministries and departments of the Government of India.

"The idea was conceived in May last year, and after efforts at various levels, we were able to make it happen," an official from AIR said, adding that it will be the first time that AIR is represented at the parade.

The public broadcaster said that the tableau will showcase how the AIR plays an "integrating role" with the diverse population of India.

"... farmers listening to radio while engrossed in agriculture operation, soldiers listening to popular programmes of AIR like "Jaimala" from advance locations in frontier; it also shows community listening of 'Mann Ki Baat', a heart-to-heart monthly conversation of the Hon'ble Prime Minister with the citizenry," AIR said.

It will also showcase AIR's "modernisation process" and has been designed on the model of the historic Broadcasting House, it said.

After the AIR tableau, the Ministry of External Affairs will have two tableaux representing India's relationship with ASEAN countries.

While the first one displays shared values, education and trade, the second tableau will project culture and religion as the strongest linkage between India and Southeast Asia.

Then there will be 14 state tableaux, starting with Karnataka's "wildlife" theme. The other states to participate are Madhya Pradesh, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Maharashtra, Lakshadweep, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Assam, Punjab, Himachal Pradesh, Manipur and Gujarat.

The Gujarat tableau will have a diorama on various activities of Sabarmati Ashram and a mural on Gandhiji's departure for the Dandi March.

Others tableaux are from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP), the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, the Ministry of Youth Affairs, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), the Directorate of Income Tax and finally the Central Public Works Department (CPWD), in that order. The sports tableau will also display indigenous sports like 'Malkhamb'.