Pic: Dayanand Kukkaje
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangalore (SI)
Mangalore, Dec 19: A preparatory meet for the upcoming 17th National Youth Festival was held at zilla panchayat office here on Monday December 19.
Addressing the meeting, deputy commissioner Dr Channappa Gowda said that the mascot and logo for the festival has already been finalised. The inauguration will be held here on January 12.
A colourful, attractive procession with around 500 volunteers will be taken from Nehru Maidan to Mangala stadium, he added.
There will be delegates from SAARC countries as well as from all the states and union territories. Accomodation will be provided for 5000 volunteers and participants and 2000 VIPs in university, inspection bungalows (IBs) and various hotels and hostels across the district.
A sum of Rs 10 crore has been sanctioned by the state government for the festival.
There will be seven cultural events and winners in each event will be given prizes. Besides, there will be food festival and Karavali festival, said the DC.
On January 14, there will be boat race at Panambur for locals, followed by Kadri festival on January 15. On January 16, there will be cultural programmes depicting the local folklore and also a daredevil show by the police staff.
As many as 16 committees have been formed to oversee the arrangements for the festival, under the guidance of district incharge minister Krishna J Palemar, MP Nalin Kumar Kateel, MLA Yogish Bhat and other people's representatives.
The DC also said that government employees who wish to participate in the festival will be granted special leave during the event.
Mahila Congress president Mamatha Gatti urged the administration to provide passes to students of schools and colleges at reasonable rates so that they may turn up for the event in large numbers. The suggestion was welcomed by the DC.
Deputy speaker of the state legislative assembly and MLA Yogish Bhat said that the National Youth Festival would be a historic event as it will be hosted by Mangalore for the first time.
There was also a suggestion to avail the services of different organisations and institutions in the district for the event, and to involve the 300-350 youth forums of Dakshina Kannada so that they get good exposure. To this, Palemar, who was also present, replied that already some of the youth forums have been engaged in organising the event.
A request has been made to decorate all the temples, churches and mosques in the district for the event.
Palemar proposed the vote of thanks. ZP CEO Vijayprakash welcomed.
MLAs Ramanath Rai and U T Khader, mayor Praveen, ZP president Shailaja Bhat, vice-president Dhanalakshmi Janardhan and other officials were present.