As the country is set to celebrate its 75th Independence Day, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagar Palike (BBMP) has pledged to distribute over 15 lakh Indian flags to the common people across Bengaluru under the campaign 'Har Ghar Tiranga.' However, the BBMP has drawn flak after selling faulty national flags that don't meet the Flag Code of India 2022.
As of August 12, around 13 lakh flags have been received by the BBMP for distribution, out of which nearly 10 lakh flags have been distributed, and more than 5 lakh flags will be sold in the next three days. Most flags come from the Cultural department of Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Haryana to the Kannada Cultural department. The BBMP was handed over the flags for distribution which they allegedly did without checking their quality.
'Ashoka Chakra, Flag Ratio Not Correct'
After receiving the flag, people noticed discrepancies in the height and length ratio of the flag. Some saw distorted Ashoka Chakra, which was off-centre and not in the actual shape. Whereas, some buyers pointed out the unevenly cut edges, irregular shape, and inconsistencies in the flag purchased from the BBMP office. The office of BBMP has now asked people to replace the distorted flags with the correct ones.
An RTI activist, Vareesh Bellur, who drew the attention of the administration, said, "Some of the cloth materials used were of sub-standard quality, the size of the flags were not even, and the Ashoka Chakra was not properly placed in the middle," reported The Indian Express.
He added that such flags could not be hoisted as they are clearly in violation of the National Flag Code, 2002, which specifies that the flag should be rectangular, having a 3:2 length to height (width) ratio, with the chakra in the centre. After he drew attention to the prevalent issue, netizens also took to Twitter and expressed their disappointment over discrepancies in the national flag.
The flags sold by the BBMP are priced at Rs 22 across all wards and zones of Bengaluru. The administrative officials sold the flag in retail shops, offices, malls, and to people through a door-to-door campaign. The primary task now lying ahead of BBMP is to exchange all the false national flags with the appropriately correct ones.
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