Renowned Indian industrialist, Naveen Jindal, has called for India to observe 23 January as the National Flag Day.
Jindal, President of Flag Foundation of India (FFoI) and Chairman of Jindal Steel & Power (JSP), was addressing students at Odisha’s Ravenshaw University on the occasion of hoisting a monumental national flag on its campus.
He said, “We should mark 23 January as National Flag Day as it is the day we earned the right to display our national flag freely with respect and dignity.”
The renowned industrialist added, “Most countries in the world have a National Flag Day to celebrate the national flag and its values. It is time for India to have a National Flag Day too and 23 January is an apt day for this.”
Jindal fought a decade-long legal battle to grant every Indian the right to fly and display the national flag with pride, dignity and honour.
On this day in 2004, the Supreme Court of India ruled that all Indians had the fundamental right to display the Indian flag freely with respect and dignity.
Jindal was joined by the Mayor of Cuttack Municipal Corporation, Subhash Singh, Choudwar-Cuttack MLA Souvic Biswal, CMC Commissioner Nikhil Pavan Kalyan (IAS), Vice Chancellor of Ravenshaw University Dr. Sanjay Kumar Nayak and Registrar of Ravenshaw University KC Malik (OAS) to hoist a mammoth 36 ft x 24 ft tricolour on a 108 ft high monumental flagpole installed by Flag Foundation of India (FFoI) at the historic Ravenshaw University campus in Cuttack.
He said, “Installation of 108 ft. National Flag at this prestigious educational institution, with its rich history, will instill a sense of nationalism among the teachers and students.”
In his address, Subhash Singh expressed his appreciation for Jindal’s significant
contributions to the state’s development, mainly through substantial investments in
industrialisation.
Biswal thanked Jindal for his unwavering commitment to spreading the ideals of nationalism by installing monumental flags across India.
Taking a stroll through the university campus, Jindal admired the British-era heritage academic buildings with gothic architecture and commended the government of Odisha and the university management for their commitment to preserving the monumental structures and creating an illustrious educational legacy of this renowned institute. He called for appropriate academic collaboration between OP Jindal Global University, the No.1 private University in India and Ravenshaw University.
Professor of Political Science Dr. Asima Sahu, President of Ravenshaw University Teachers’
Association Dr. Dharmabrata Mohapatra, FFoI’s CEO Maj. Gen. (Retd.) Ashim Kohli, JSP’s President and Group Head (CSR & Education), Prashant Kumar Hota and other senior officials of the University were also present on the occasion.