U’khand youth will participate in National Youth Festival: Dhami

Dehradun, 4 Jan: Chief Minister, Pushkar Singh Dhami inaugurated the State Level Youth Festival 2023 at Parade Grounds here today. On this occasion, the Chief Minister announced that 12 January, the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, would be celebrated as youth day, at the state and district level. The incentive amount given to youth and women’s welfare teams from the district plan would be increased from Rs 4 thousand to Rs 5 thousand, he announced.

On this occasion, the Chief Minister also honoured Yuvak Mangal Dals and Mahila Mangal Dals, with state level Vivekananda Youth Award on the basis of their excellent performance for the year 2021-22. Among the three Yuvak Mangal Dals that were awarded, Yuvak Mangal Dal Mankatia, Development Block Moonakot, Pithoragarh got the first prize, Yuvak Mangal Dal Dhura, Nandanagar, Development Block Ghat, Chamoli bagged the second prize and Yuvak Mangal Dal Khedajat, Development Block Narsan in Haridwar district got the third prize. Mahila Mangal Dal, Nandanagar, Development Block Ghat, Chamoli was first, Mahila Mangal Dal Kismila, Kapkot in district Bageshwar Development Block was second while Mahila Mangal Dal Barowala under Doiwala Development Block and Hasanpur under Bhagwanpur Development Block were joint third. Youth and Mahila Mangal Dals, who got first, second and third positions, were given an amount of Rs 1 lakh, Rs 50 thousand and Rs 25 thousand respectively.

Congratulating all the participants of the youth festival, Chief Minister Dhami said that such festivals helped in preserving and promoting the state’s culture and traditions. He said that the participants selected from this youth festival would get to showcase their art and culture to promote the rich culture of the state at the national level youth festival on 12 January at Dharwad in Karnataka, as brand ambassadors of the state. They would introduce Uttarakhand’s cultural heritage before a nationwide audience. The CM stressed that the states were identified by their culture, languages, dialects and environment. It was necessary to promote them, so that the future generations could relate to the culture and also carry forward their culture and traditions. He said that young talents from block level also got opportunities to participate in this state level youth festival, due to which the talents of rural areas did get special benefit. This was a commendable effort. With this, the talents of Uttarakhand would get opportunities to move forward.

The Chief Minister said that India has entered the Amrit Kaal of Independence. Youth would play an important role in making India a leader in every field. The coming 25 years are very important for the country. All would have to showcase their talent with full potential. The Chief Minister said that the country is making rapid progress in every field under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. India’s reputation has grown rapidly at the global level. India has become the fifth largest economy country in the world. Today, a decision is taken on the proposals sent from India at the global level. India now has the presidency of the G20 summit for this year. India is fast moving towards self-reliance. In the state too, continuous efforts are being made by the state government to make people self-reliant. Along with employment, self-employment opportunities are also being made available.

Sports and Youth Welfare Minister Rekha Arya said that many programmes related to folk songs, folk dances and the cultural traditions of the state would be organised in the three-day state level youth festival. Out of this, the best performing participants would get opportunity to participate in the national level programme in Karnataka on the occasion of National Youth Day. She said that the inspiration of the youth festival has been derived from the life philosophy of Swami Vivekananda. He was a role model for all the youth. The youth would have to move forward by taking inspiration from their lifestyle. The mantras of life he gave are relevant even today. The youth would have a special responsibility to take forward our cultural heritage.