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U’khand set to become leading flower state: Gurmit Singh

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Governor inaugurates 3-day Vasantotsav at Raj Bhawan

By Our Staff Reporter

Dehradun, 1 Mar: Governor Lt Gen (Retd) Gurmit Singh inaugurated the three-day Spring Festival, ‘Vasantotsav’ at the Raj Bhawan, here, today. The inaugural ceremony was accompanied with cultural performances, the musical performance of bands from IMA, ITBP, PAC and Home Guards and the usual flower exhibition.

On this occasion, Tourism Minister Satpal Maharaj, Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Ganesh Joshi, First Lady Gurmeet Kaur and Chief Secretary Radha Raturi were also present.

The Governor also released a special postal cover of the Thuner plant (Taxus wallichiana), an Uttarakhand native plant used for treatment of serious ailments. Singh also released the quarterly magazine, ‘Nanda’, of the Raj Bhavan.

Artists from Almora performed a spectacular Chholiya dance. The soldiers of Gorkha Rifles displayed their physical and mental strength and performed a Khukri dance.  Students of Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar, performed yoga exercises.

Governor Singh also met children from various schools who had come to participate in the painting competition. Speaking on the occasion, the Governor said that Uttarakhand has a unique blessing of nature. The flowers here have a unique beauty, which will lead to making Uttarakhand a flower state in the coming times. The Governor said that, through this festival, people doing excellent work in various fields including agriculture and horticulture in the state get an opportunity to showcase their products. He said that, through the Vasantotsav, the people associated with agriculture and horticulture sector will get encouragement and local products will be promoted. He said that Vasantotsav gives the message of connecting with nature and encourages people to conserve the environment.

Though the participation in the institutional category and the nurseries category was as usual, there were lesser number of hobbyist participants in the competition, which should be a matter of some concern for the organisers. In all, 1811 participants participated in today’s event in 53 subcategories of 15 categories. In these competitions, the first, second and third prizes will be awarded after the decision of the jury on 3 March, 2024.  A total of 360 stalls have been set up including 29 stalls by various government institutions. The popular categories in competition included potted plants in flowers and vegetables, cut flowers, rooftop gardening, hanging baskets, the painting, photography and rangoli competition besides hydroponic (soilless culture) plants which were included for the first time.