Republic Day 2023 to feature 23 tableaux from Assam, Jammu & Kashmir, and more

Subject : Governance

Section :Msc

Concept :

The Minister of Defence on January 22 announced that 17 states and union territories, such as West Bengal, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, and Jammu & Kashmir, will display their tableaux at Kartavya Path for the Republic Day parade.
In a statement, the ministry mentioned that apart from the states and union territories, six of the ministries and departments will also display their tableaux.

Selection Process of Republic Day Tableaux

The Ministry of Defence carries out the selection process of tableaux for the Republic day parade.
Every year, around September, the Defence Ministry, which is responsible for the Republic Day parade and the celebrations, asks all the states, the Union Territories, Central Government departments, and a few constitutional authorities to send their tableau proposals.

Guidelines on what can be depicted

The participants have to showcase elements relevant to their state/ UT/ department, within the overarching theme. The themes given to participants this year were around 75 years of India’s Independence, the International Year of Millets and ‘Nari Shakti’.
The deadline for sending the proposal was September 30, 2022, and the shortlisting of the proposals began around the second week of October.

Selection of Tableaux

The Ministry sets up an expert committee with distinguished people from various fields of arts to shortlist the tableaux proposals received from various states and organizations.
The expert committee consists of prominent persons in the field of art, culture, painting, sculpture, music, architecture, choreography, etc.
In order for all states to get representation, states are given representation on a rotational basis.
It needs to be noted that writing or use of logos on tableaux is not allowed except the name of states or Union Territories that are presenting it on the day of the parade.
There is also a pattern to where the names of the states should be written — in Hindi in the front, in English on the back and in regional language on the sides of the tableau.

Do they have to be of a particular size?

The Defence Ministry provides each participant with one tractor and one trailer, and the tableau should fit on that.
The ministry prohibits use of any additional tractor or trailer, or even any other vehicle to be part of it.
However, the participant can replace their ministry-provided tractor or trailer with other vehicles, but the total number should not be more than two vehicles.
The tractor has to be camouflaged in harmony with the tableau’s theme, and the ministry stipulates a distance of around six feet between the tractor and the trailer for turning and manoeuvering.
The dimensions of the trailer on which the tableau will be placed is 24 feet, 8 inches long; eight feet wide; four feet two inches high; with a load-bearing capacity of 10 tonnes.
The tableaux should not be more than 45 feet long, 14 feet wide and 16 feet high from the ground.