On Sunday (31st December), the Ministry of Defence (MoD) rubbished allegations of ‘discrimination’ against the States of Punjab, Delhi and West Bengal after their tableaux were not short-listed for the Republic Day Ceremony (RDC) to be held on 26th January 2024.
Sources at MoD pointed out that both Punjab and Delhi have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Union government and have agreed to display their tableaux in only one of the three years starting from 26 January next year.
“As states have to be treated equally, it is essential that states should be given the opportunity to display their tableaus as per a formula. GOI is preparing a 3-year program covering all states/UTs which will be shared with all the States/UTs. Hence, the criticism by these states is baseless,” the sources added.
The Ministry of Defence clarified that even though it received proposals for tableaux from all States and Union territories, only 15-16 of them are selected each year for display at the Republic Day Ceremony (RDC).
It has requested all States, which failed to make it to Republic Day Parade of 2024, to display their tableaux at Red Fort in the National Capital between 23rd January and 31st January 2024.
In order to ensure that the process is transparent, MoD has constituted an ‘Expert Committee’ comprising of eminent personalities across various fields to evaluate the tableaux proposal of each State.
Punjab, West Bengal tableaux did not align with 2024’s tableau theme
It added that tableaux for the States of Punjab and West Bengal were considered until the first three and two rounds respectively but the proposals were ultimately dropped for not aligning with the broader theme of RDC.
“The tableau proposal of Punjab was considered in first three rounds of meeting of the Expert Committee. After the third round of meeting, the tableau of Punjab could not be taken forward by the Expert Committee for further consideration for not aligning to the broader themes of this year’s tableau.While, the tableau proposal of West Bengal was considered in first two rounds of meeting of the Expert Committee. After the second round of meeting, the tableau of West Bengal could not be taken forward by the Expert Committee for further consideration for not aligning to the broader themes of this year’s tableau,” the sources added.
History of Punjab, West Bengal tableaux participation in Republic Day Parade
The Ministry of Defence also pointed out that the ‘Expert Committee’ had previously short-listed 6 tableaux of Punjab between 2016-2022 and 5 tableaux of West Bengal in the past 8 years.
“During the last few years, the tableau of Punjab has been shortlisted for Republic Day Parade by the Expert Committee in the years 2017 to 2022 (6 times in last 8 years) and the tableau of West Bengal for the years 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023 (5 times in last 8 years) by following same procedure as stated in para 2 above,” the sources added.