Prime Minister Narendra Modi to interact with Officer Trainees of Indian Civil Services in the second edition of the Integrated Foundation Course, ”Aarambh”
New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be participating in the Ekta Diwas Celebrations to commemorate the Birth Anniversary of “Loh Purush” Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel at Kevadia, Gujarat on 31st October 2020.
Shri Narendra Modi will offer floral tributes at the Statue of Unity, administer the Ekta Pledge and witness the Ekta Diwas Parade on the occasion.
The Prime Minister shall address the probationers of Indian Civil Services at LBSNAA, Mussoorie through a Video conference from Kevadia. This is a part of the integrated foundation course AARAMBH launched for the first time in 2019.
As a part of the Integrated Development of Kevadia the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi will inaugurate various projects on the 30th and 31st October 2020.
These include the flag-off of the Ekta Cruise Service to the Statue of Unity, the inauguration of the Ekta Mall and Children Nutrition Park there. Shri Narendra Modi will also unveil the website of Statue of Unity in all the UN official languages and will launch the Kevadia App, at the Unity Glow Garden.
The Prime Minister will also launch the seaplane service connecting Statue of Unity in Kevadia with Sabarmati Riverfront in Ahmedabad.
Ekta Cruise Service
Through the Ekta Cruise Service one can experience the viewing of Statue of Unity through the Ferry Boat Service from Shrestha Bharat Bhavan to Statue of Unity by covering a distance of 6 km. The 40 min ride can be covered by a boat which can ferry 200 passengers at a time. New Gora Bridge is built especially for the operation of the ferry service. Boating Channel is constructed to provide boating services to tourists visiting the Statue of Unity.
Ekta Mall
The Mall displays a diverse range of handicrafts and traditional items from all over India symbolizing unity in diversity and is spread over 35000 sq ft. The mall consists of 20 Emporia each representing a specific state in India and is built in just 110 days.
Children Nutrition Park
It is the world’s first ever technology driven nutrition park for children and is spread over an area of 35000 sq ft. A Nutri Train runs across the park to various exciting theme based stations namely ‘Phalshaka Griham’, ‘Payonagari’, ‘Annapoorna’, ‘Poshan Puran’, and ‘Swastha Bharatam’. It will raise nutritional awareness through various edutainment activities like Mirror Maze, 5D Virtual reality theatre and Augmented reality games.
Aarambh is an initiative to bring all the probationers of All India Service, Group-A Central Service and Foreign Service together for a Common Foundation Course (CFC) with the vision to break the silos of departments and services from the very beginning of the career of a civil servant. Aarambh aims at making the civil servants capable of leading the transformation and work seamlessly across departments and fields.
“Aarambh” was started as part of the 94th Foundation Course in 2019 where Officer Trainees(OTs) from 20 Services participated in a week-long programme at the Statue of Unity, Kevadia, Gujarat. It culminated into a presentation to the Hon’ble Prime Minister, an interaction with him followed by his address to the Officer Trainees.
This year, the second edition of Aarambh 2020 is taking place in LBSNAA from 14th to 31st October, 2020, in which 428 Officers Trainees from eighteen Services and three Royal Bhutan Services are participating. However, due to the prevailing pandemic situation, this year the Aarambh 2020 is a virtual one, with the chosen theme as “Governance in India @100”. The sub themes are “EK Bharat Shrestha Bharat”, “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and “Naveen Bharat” with focus on cultural diversity and synergy in India as an influencer, economic diversity and oneness as strength, Atmanirbhar in Energy, Health, Building large systems for Black Swan events, Research and Innovation in Education, Industry and Administration.