Cultural events, distribution of aid mark Independence Day celebrations

SALEM/ERODE: Salem district collector V Sampath unfurled the national flag and distributed welfare assistance to beneficiaries to the tune of Rs 10.56 lakh during the 71{+s}{+t} Independence Day celebrations at Mahatma Gandhi Stadium here on Tuesday.
He also honoured freedom fighters and handed over Chief Minister’s Medals to police personnel who had done good service. He also accepted the guard of honour and later witnessed a cultural programmes staged by 945 students from nine schools.Salem police commissioner Sanjay Kumar, superintendent of police P Rajan and others were also present in the celebrations.
The cultural programmes went on for nearly three hours. The collector also attended a gram sabha meeting at Vellakkalpatty in Omalur taluk and interacted with villagers and panchayat members.
Later, he participated in ‘samabandhi bojan' at Sri Sugavaneshwarar Temple. All 385 village panchayats conducted gram sabha meetings while 16 temples organized ‘samabandhi bojans.'
Similarly, Namakkal district collector M Asia Mariam, Dharmapuri district collector K Vivekanandhan, Krishnagiri district collector C Kathiravan and Erode district collector S Prabakharan unfurled the national flag and distributed welfare assistance to beneficiaries to the tune of several lakhs. Also, they accepted the guard of honour and witnessed the cultural programmes staged by school students.
Executive director of Salem Steel Plant P K Mishra hoisted the national flag and took the salute from a contingent of Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).
Mishra congratulated the plant’s employees for winning many safety and quality awards and urged them to continue to produce best quality products without any compromise on safety.
Special officer and commissioner of Salem Municipal Corporation hoisted the national flag, accepted the guard of honour and also distributed welfare schemes to the beneficiaries.
Similarly, managing director of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation K Pandi hoisted the national flag on his office premises in Salem on Tuesday.
Addressing the gathering, he said Salem division had collected Rs 6.68 crore revenue this year. He said the Salem division had made good revenue for the past two years. He also distributed promotion orders to 37 employees.
Similarly, he also handed over permanent orders to 40 employees and gave rewards and certificates to 36 drivers for saving fuel.