BHUBANESWAR: Come January 11, the entire Odisha will celebrate hockey as the government is all set to take the extravaganza to the grassroots.
While the host cities Bhubaneswar and Rourkela are being readied to welcome players and fans from 16 countries and Cuttack is given a makeover for the opening ceremony at Barabati stadium, panchayats across the state will hold special gram sabhas on an inaugural day to discuss the unique achievement of Odisha in organising the international sporting event twice in a row.
The gram sabhas will be convened in all 6,798 panchayats from 3 pm on January 11 till the end of the opening ceremony. The arrangement will be made for a live telecast of the inaugural ceremony at the panchayat office for the general public by putting up projector screens or big television sets.
As part of the opening ceremony, an action-packed show that serves as an introduction to the playing nations has been planned with an incredible display of sports, music and culture. A star-studded cast lined up for the event will perform amid half a million hockey fans at the stadium.
“Panchayats have been asked to make the arrangements, including installation of the projector or LED television sets at the gram sabha meeting place so that the people present there can watch the event live and celebrate,” said a Panchayati raj department official.
The districts have been asked to ensure the outer wall of the offices of all panchayats, blocks and Zilla parishads are affixed with clear and visible flex prints depicting the event. A wall painting of the hockey world cup logo will also be fixed at a prominent location on the outer wall of every panchayat office as per the design and colour combination suggested. All the gram panchayats can spend up to Rs 20,000 to meet the expenses of the activities from the state finance commission grant or their own source of revenue.
“The chief development officers and BDOs will ensure that all these activities are taken up with proper manners, maintaining transparency in all panchayat offices,” the official added.