KOZHIKODE: Participants taking power naps on audience chairs, dreary-eyed dancers getting their make-up done and venues buzzing with competition events even at 3 am, these were the normal scenes at kalolsavams of old. At the ongoing 61st edition, however, late-evening visitors have had to return home disappointed with events at all the 24 venues winding up before 8 pm -- thanks to the efforts of the organising committee.
“From the committee’s first meeting, members were very particular about finishing the events on time, as students being asked to wait for hours and sometimes late into the night was deemed unfair,” said Education Minister V Sivankutty. The programme committee was tasked with preparing an action plan for the timely conduct of events. On top of that, the decline in the number of appeals has also helped, he said.
“On Thursday, as all the events were expected to be over by 7 pm, we decided to prolong the competitions a little longer, as thousands of people were still flowing into the main venue to watch the performances.
Despite this, we were able to wind up the events at the venue by 8 pm,” a programme committee member said. This helps participants get adequate rest time. Even those taking part in multiple events were getting enough breaks after each event due to the timely management of events, he added.
Minister for Tourism and PWD P A Mohamed Riyas, who is also the chairman of the 61st edition, said, “The beauty of this year’s event was definitely the timely conduct of events. Except for one or two events, all others were finished as per the schedule finalised by the committee. The timely intervention of the High Court has helped reduce the number of appeals.” The government will revise the Kalolsavam manual to make furure editions more productive and efficient, he added.