Collector Anand Mohan inspects the guard of honour at the Independence Day celebration at Palayamkottai in Tirunelveli on Saturday.
| Photo Credit: A. SHAIKMOHIDEEN
A majestic march past by the police, riveting cultural events by students and disbursal of welfare measures to the needy marked the 80thIndependence Day celebrations held here on Saturday.At the event held at VOC Stadium in Palayamkottai, Collector Anand Mohan hoisted the national flag and released tri-colour balloons. Accompanied by Superintendent of Police Vishwesh Balasubramaniam Shastri, he inspected the guard of honour and took the salute from police, NCC cadets, home guards and personnel of the forest department.He handed over welfare measures worth ₹83.58 lakh to 30 beneficiaries and honoured outstanding sportspersons, including E. Harini of Child Jesus Girls Higher Secondary School, Palayamkottai, who bagged a gold medal at the national-level inter-school soft tennis tournament held in Madhya Pradesh, and 508 officials from government departments, including police, fire and rescue services, revenue and education, in recognition of their meritorious service.Volunteers training youth for the police and agniveer selections under the ‘Vetrinadai’ scheme, voluntary organisations for their contribution towards environmental protection and Dr. Ashok for anti-drug awareness campaign were also honoured.Indian Overseas Bank, State Bank of India, Indian Bank and HDFC, which extended several loans to self-help groups and disbursed priority loans were honoured with mementoes and certificates.Awareness short films on drug abuse by school and college students were given cash awards.The highlight of the celebration was cultural events by students of Vadakku Chezhiyanallur Government Higher Secondary School, Meenakshipuram Corporation Higher Secondary School, Sarah Tucker Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Palayamkottai, Gangaikondan Namma Ooru Global School, Melapalayam Muththamizh CBSE School, Rani Anna Government College for Women, Pettai, Sarah Tucker College, Palayamkottai, and St. Xavier’s College, Palayamkottai, and a speech by Schaffter Higher Secondary School student Esakki Dharun on drug abuse.The Collector honoured the children with certificates and their schools with mementoes.Deputy Inspector General of Police, Tirunelveli Range, R. Thirunavukkarasu, Commissioner of Police, Tirunelveli City, Deshmukh Shekar Sanjay, District Revenue Officer S. Vidhya, Sub-Collector, Cheranmahadevi, Ayush Gupta, Additional Collector (Development) Vinay Kumar Meena, Deputy Commissioner, Tirunelveli East, Saravanan and senior officials participated in the celebrations.Vice-Chancellor of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University N. Chandrasekar hoisted the national flag and took the salute from NCC cadets. Students of the university presented cultural programmes.Mayor G. Ramakrishnan hoisted the national flag on the premises of Tirunelveli Corporation. Commissioner Monika Rana and Councillors participated. Published - August 15, 2026 06:48 pm IST
