The Sabha celebrated the Independence Day jointly with the Indian Army, a tradition that has evolved over the decade between the Sabha and the Armed Forces to celebrate both the national days. The Independence Day is in honour of the Fallen Soldier. Accordingly, the Sabha felicitated the Veer Naaris of 25 men-in-uniform who had done the supreme sacrifice of their life for the cause of the nation. These brave women had come from different parts of Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa and were felicitated at the hands of Lt. Gen. H. S. Kahlon, General Officer Commanding, (Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa) and his wife Smt. Harkiran Kahlon. Each of the Veer Naari were given a solatium of Rs. 2,50,000/- each and mementos.

The highlight of the day was the inauguration of the Param Vir Chakras gallery in the Sabha. At a glittering function, the GoC inaugurated the gallery comprising of 21 large size busts of those brave men who were conferred the highest army honours by the country since independence. The Param Vir Chakra is the equivalent of Victoria Cross and is the 2 nd highest honour of the country after Bharat Ratna. The gallery contained audio facilities describing the indomitable courage, bravery and outstanding service in the face of grave threats of these men. The stars of the day were the three Param Vir Chakras who are alive. They came from Jammu, Bulandshahr and Khadakvasla to be part of the inauguration. These three men SM & Hon. Captain Bana Singh, SM & Hon. Captain Yogendra Singh Yadav and Sub Major Sanjay Kumar were felicitated by the Sabha and given a cash award of Rs. 2,50,000/- each alongwith a citation and several mementos. It is for the first time that in a non-army platform the three surviving PVCs were together. On 23 rd January 2023 coinciding with the 125 th birth anniversary of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, the Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri. Narendra Modi named 21 islands in Andaman and Nicobar after these awardees as various dweeps.

The Sabha conferred the Sri Shanmukha Shaurya Ratna Award on Col. Vembu Shankar. He is a one man philanthropic initiative to connect with the families of the Indian Army physical casualties (soldiers who die while in service due to accidents, medical conditions etc.) through project Sambandh.

The Sabha also honoured Lt. Col. Amardeep Singh Dehal, the officer in wheel chair after being shot nearly dead, chasing Ironman dream. The 35 year old combat engineer refuses to let go of his dream of taking part in the gruelling endurance race the Ironman Trithalon in which supremely fit athletes around the world test their limits with a 3.9 km swim followed by 180.2 kms bike ride and 42.20 km run. He was in deep coma for several months. After the bullet from a Kalashnikov was buried deep in his brain in 2017. He was felicitated by the Sabha with a cash award of Rs. 2,50,000/- and several mementos.

The entire fraternity of the officers of the Indian Army, their families and men of lower ranks enthusiastically cheered the awardees. The memorable also witnessed the singing the full five stanzas beyond the first stanza which is the national anthem by 76 young students of the Sabha’s Sangeetha Vidyalaya. The Sabha also inaugurated a permanent kiosk, the Sabha and the Army connect in the front foyer.

The programme concluded with the scintillating dance ballet based on patriotic themes in several languages of the country by Smt. Padmini Radhakrishnan’s Soundarya Natya Kalalaya.