NEW DELHI: Having commissioned a 182-metre tall Statue of Unity in his memory and declared Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birth anniversary – October 31 – as Rashtriya Ekta Divas, the Modi government is set to take its commemoration of the former Congressman to yet another level.The Centre has decided that one day is not sufficient to honour the first deputy prime minister of independent India. The country will commemorate Sardar Patel for a whole week this year. The Rashtriya Ekta Suptah will be observed across the country from October 31 to November 6, driving home the message of national unity against a backdrop of escalating tension with neighbouring Pakistan.A nationwide campaign titled ‘Nation Salutes Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel – the Unifier of India’ will be observed across institutes and departments. The Rashtriya Ekta Diwas so far has seen the PM paying floral tributes at the Sardar Patel statue on Parliament Street in New Delhi, flagging off Unity Runs and government servants taking the Pledge of Unity.In a communication issued to institutes, they have been asked to honour the memory of Sardar Patel by conducting programmes and events that reflect his decisive efforts in unifying a diverse country like India so as to create a single political, socio-economic and administrative entity for governance under independent India.A range of activities and events are to be conducted through the week by higher educational institutions and schools in the country need to be built around the theme of unification, strengthening and bonding of the nation.As part of the Rashtriya Ekta Suptah, Unity Runs will be held in cities, towns and rural areas by students with the message of a unified Bharat. Educational institutions will bring out creative clips on unification and the best three will be selected for presenting to the Prime Minister’s Office.Inter-department competitions on the theme of unity, besides plays and musicals, will be held across educational institutes. As has been the norm under the Modi regime, there will be essay contests on the character and contributions of Sardar Patel and his relevance and importance today. Students will be involved in making efforts to mobilise and felicitate former freedom fighters in their regions during this week. These freedom fighters will be encouraged to share their memories of Sardar Patel and their views on the theme of unity.Indicating that the campaign is rather high priority, all educational institutes have been asked to plan their campaigns for the week and inform the human resource development ministry ‘urgently.’HRD minister Prakash Javadekar is said to have conducted a video conference to brief states on how to conduct the campaign. It has also been communicated that photographs of campaign activities must be sent to the Centre over WhatsApp and to dedicated email addresses.