New Delhi (IANS): The central government has invited 40 tribals from various parts of the country as special guests for this year’s Republic Day celebrations, government sources said.
Apart from watching the Republic Day Parade and the Beating Retreat ceremony, these tribal guests would be taken around the city for sightseeing.
The tribals, along with tableaux artists, would also get a chance to meet the President, Vice President, Prime Minister and the Tribal Affairs Minister in the Capital, sources said.
Besides, this year 21 children will be conferred the National Bravery Awards.
Four groups of children will be part of the parade, of which three groups are from Delhi and one from Nagpur in Maharashtra. Each group of children will give a performance of about two minutes in front of the Presidential dais at Rajpath.
The best performance would get the first prize while the second best performance would get a consolation prize. The school children would also be presented gifts and certificates.
This year, 23 tableaux from various states, Union Territories (UTs) and central government departments will be part of the parade. Some of the tableaux will also showcase folk dance performances.
The states/UTs taking part in the parade include Delhi, Goa, Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, West Bengal, Manipur, Tripura, Himachal Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Chandigarh and Lakshadweep.
The participating tableaux will be judged for first, second and third prizes.
The duration of the parade will be 95 minutes.