Govt forms panel to mark 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

The Centre has constituted a committee to oversee the commemoration of the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the country’s first Deputy Prime Minister.

Vallabhbhai Patel is fondly remembered as the “Iron Man of India”.

The committee, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, includes a line-up of national leaders, former Presidents, former Prime Ministers, Union Ministers, Governors, Chief Ministers, spiritual leaders, educationists, and eminent public figures.

Among the prominent members are former Presidents Pratibha Patil and Ram Nath Kovind, former Prime Minister H.D. Deve Gowda, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. State leaders including Yogi Adityanath, M.K. Stalin, Himanta Biswa Sarma, and Bhagwant Mann are also part of the panel.

The panel also brings together distinguished personalities from diverse fields such as spiritual leaders Mata Amritanandamayi and Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev, actor Paresh Rawal, historian Prof. Pushpesh Pant, sculptor Ram V. Sutar, and several educationists, writers, and senior journalists like Uday Mahurkar.

According to a notification, the committee’s mandate is to approve policies, plans, and programmes for the commemoration, supervise and guide activities, and finalize the broad dates for the celebrations. The government will implement the recommendations subject to existing rules and procedures.

The 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Patel, often hailed as the architect of India’s political integration, is expected to be marked with large-scale national and international events celebrating his legacy.