Every year on October 31, India observes Rashtriya Ekta Diwas—National Unity Day—to honour Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of independent India. Few leaders shaped the Republic’s foundations as decisively as Patel, who integrated more than 560 princely states after 1947 to forge a single political entity.

Patel’s realism, patience and firmness kept the subcontinent from splintering in the wake of Partition. Junagarh, Hyderabad and Jammu & Kashmir might well have slipped into uncertainty but for his persuasion and resolve. Crucially, the unity he espoused was never about uniformity; it was a federation of minds and hearts bound by a shared civilisational heritage. That belief remains India’s anchor in an age of widening diversities and rising aspirations.
The 2014 decision to commemorate Patel’s birthday as National Unity Day recognised that unity is not a settled fact but a continuous national endeavour. Across the country, schools, civil society organisations and citizens reaffirm their pledge to uphold the nation’s integrity. Events such as the Run for Unity embody Patel’s call for collective action—reminding us that patriotism must move from sentiment to participation.
This year, as India marks the sesquicentennial—Patel’s 150th birth anniversary—special programmes will be held at Ekta Nagar, home to the 182-metre Statue of Unity, a monumental tribute to his nation-building legacy. Cultural parades, state tableaux and performances by more than 900 artists will celebrate a simple idea: India’s strength lies in its many voices speaking as one.
In a country where languages, faiths and folk traditions coexist in profusion, culture has long served as our most durable bond. Institutions under the Ministry of Culture—from Zonal Cultural Centres to national museums—work to democratise heritage so that no region feels isolated from the national narrative.
Programmes such as Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat institutionalise this spirit by pairing States and Union Territories for exchanges in language, cuisine and art. When students in Maharashtra learn Bihu, or young performers from Assam stage Lavani in Pune, they practise Patel’s conviction that knowing one another is the first step to standing together.
Tourism, too, is an instrument of cohesion. The Dekho Apna Desh campaign and the upgraded Incredible India digital platform encourage citizens to explore their own land—from Punjab’s Golden Temple to Kerala’s backwaters, from Assam’s tea gardens to Rajasthan’s deserts. In 2024 alone, domestic tourism crossed 294 crore visits, reflecting a surge in curiosity and pride among Indians about India.
Schemes like Swadesh Darshan and PRASHAD go beyond infrastructure to create local livelihoods. When a woman in Nagaland runs a homestay for visitors from Gujarat, or an artisan in Jodhpur sells crafts to travellers from Tamil Nadu, they exchange more than goods—they share experiences that knit the Republic closer.
Unity, Patel taught, is a task renewed in every generation. It must be defended against the fragmenting impulses of indifference, ignorance and regionalism. The Panch Pran—the five resolves of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav—place national solidarity at the heart of India’s journey to 2047.
As India marks Sardar Patel’s 150th birth anniversary in 2025, the most faithful homage to the Iron Man lies not in marble or memory, but in ensuring that every Indian feels part of the same national story. Whether through a cultural performance, a museum exhibit or a journey across States, each act of participation strengthens the invisible threads that bind this civilisation together.
In Sardar Patel’s words—and in Prime Minister Modi’s reiteration of them—unity remains both the means and the goal of India’s destiny: Ek Bharat, Shreshtha Bharat.
(The author is Union Minister for Culture and Tourism, Government of India.)

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