The five day event was inaugurated by Ashwini Vaishnaw, Minister of Railways, Communication and Electronics and Information Technology,[3] in attendance with Devusinh Chauhan, Minister of State for Communications of India and Vineet Pandy, Secretary of the Department of Post.
To promote the event Department of Post unveiled a mascot, a mobile app, a short film, and a mini-exhibition with a stamp theme.[1] Exhibition mascot Philly was designed and inspired from Peacock, representing the national bird of India and symbolizes the Philatelic Division of Department of Posts, Government of India.[1] Dedicated Mobile app for the Amritpex-2023 was launched to the ease of visitors for the updates of events, history and services of India Post.[1]
Workshops, seminars, competitions and cultural activities
Various activities like workshops, seminars and competitions including storytelling, envelope art with philately stamps, paper crafts, wall of Stamps, Live Painting by Artists and Painters, Curated and Guided Tours, Time Capsule,[1] kiosks to generate digital postcards,[4] letter writing, calligraphy[5] were organized to draw attention to school children.
During the exhibition, India Post released Se-tenant stamps on Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav on 11 February 2023. Set of 2 miniature sheets on 'Bridal Costumes of India', with 4 stamps of Rs. 25.00 each were released on 12 February 2023. A miniature sheet containing 12 stamps of denomination Rs. 5.00 each was released on GI tag of agricultural products on 13 February. A series of special covers on Nari Shakti, Yuva Shakti, International Year of Millets 2023, Nature & Wildlife of India and unsung heroes of freedom struggle of India, along with set of picture postcards on 'Flavours of Delhi' were released during the event.[6][7]
Exhibits
The National Philatelic Exhibition (referred to as Amritpex 2023) was organized under the aegis of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav Celebrations. Around 1,400 competitive exhibit frames displayed stamp presentations in numerous categories[2] created by around 300 collectors from all over India.[4]
The main themes of the exhibitions were: 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence and New India, Youth Power (Yuva Shakti), Women Power (Nari Shakti) Achivements@75Nature and Wildlife and Culture and History.[1][2]
Exhibition classes and competitions
The philatelic exhibition at Amritpex 2023 holds competitions in the following classes:
To celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Indian Independence, a special section dedicated to the achievements of India at 75 (years) in collaboration with Ministry of Culture was added to the competition as AKAM (Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav) Class. Freedom Struggle, Ideas @75, Resolve @75, Actions @75, and Achievements @75 were the themes for the AKAM Class.