Bollywood actor Amrita Rao said Indians have lost the passion for patriotism.

Talking about the forthcoming Republic Day celebrations, Amrita said: "Today, we are neck-to-neck with other developing countries of world and lead in some fields as well. However, somewhere we have lost the passion for patriotism. For us our daily needs and the craze for success has become our priority and celebrating the important days of 15th August and 26th January are just a formality."

"The people living in far flung areas of India, do not attach any importance to the Constitution and its articles. On the other hand, for the urban people, the day is just another national holiday.

"It is true that with the changing scenario in the world, Indians themselves have changed. From the time of the country's independence in August 1947 to the present day, India has seen a series of development in various sectors like communication, information technology etc."

Amrita further said: "Our valuable votes, during General Elections make worthless politicians MPs and MLAs, but only a few of them are sincere about the development of the nation. We are seeing a developing India in metros and big cities and not the real India, which reside in the villages.

"We celebrate Republic Day every year and forget about its significance the very next day.

"Poverty, unemployment, illiteracy are the common problems faced by the people in far-flung areas. If people are not literate then how can they possibly understand the importance of democracy? Not only our political leaders, it is our duty as well to turn India into a prosperous nation, only then would the hard work of Ambedkar and his Constituent Assembly show positive results."

Asked about her plans this Republic Day, the actor said: "I plan to watch the parade on the big screen or may fly down to New Delhi for it."