Closing ceremony of 150th anniversary of India's first War of Independence tomorrow

New Delhi, May 9 : The year-long celebration of 150 years of India's first War of Independence will come to an end here on Saturday.

Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh will be the chief guest at the concluding function, which will be presided over by Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Dr. M.S. Gill.

The programme would include photo and press clipping exhibition on 1857 programmes, screening of a documentary film and release of a book on "150 years of first war of independence" and speeches by eminent speakers.

As part of the efforts to celebrate the 150th year of India's first war of independence, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) organized a national youth rally of more than 35,000 youth from all districts of India in May 2007 from Meerut to Delhi.

The march symbolized the march of sepoys, who revolted against the British imperialism in May 1857. Prior to that in May 2006, a consultative meeting of historians was organized in which eminent historians participated.

NYKS also organized national convention to deliberate on the issues related to the commemoration of 150th anniversary of India's first freedom struggle of 1857 in May 2006.

Dr. Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India, graced the concluding session of the convention.

The convention reached at an action agenda for the implementation of the commemoration programme. This was followed by zonal level convention of National Service Volunteers (NSV) and Nehru Yuva Sathis (NYS).

The commemoration programme was organized in befitting manner in 2006-2007 in villages all over India with the help of village level youth organization, youth clubs and mahila mandals.

A variety of programmes and activities were organized in the villages throughout the year.

ANI