In a fortnight, India Post has sold 62,868 national flags, through its 1,153 post offices as well as online, to residents, including tribals in remote hamlets in Vellore, Ranipet, Tirupattur and Tiruvannamalai postal divisions, earning an income of ₹15.71 lakh. With the “Har Ghar Tiranga” initiative aiming to reach out to every resident in the neighbourhood to hoist the national flag as part of celebration of 75 years of Independence, these flags were sold by the Department through its army of foot soldiers (postman / woman) at ₹25 each. For online sale, the Department has provided free doorstep delivery. “Our entire stock of national flags was sold out by Saturday,” K. Sivasankaran, Superintendent of Posts (Arakkonam), told The Hindu. In terms of total sales of flags, Arakkonam topped the list by selling the highest number of 23,370 flags since August 3 when the first distribution of flags for the public began. Tiruvannamalai finished second with 18,345 flags till August 13 (Saturday). Vellore and Tirupattur have sold 11,900 and 9,258 flags during the same period respectively. Officials said that the initiative was to spread the message of hard-won independence by everyone hoisting flags in their houses and workplace. Residents can also take a selfie with the flag and upload it on www.harghartiranga.com and register their participation.
