NEW DELHI: To enhance public participation in Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav, the culture ministry has realigned its approach and is planning events in association with communities and non-government organisations. In an attempt to achieve the goal, the ministry will hold language-based three-day events in different cities. The ministry in partnership with the state governments and other agencies successfully organised Kashi Utsav (Hindi) in Varanasi in November and Thanjavur Utsavasam (Tamil) at Thanjavur.
Next in line is the Hampi festival after which the ministry is likely to work on programmes associated with regional languages Konkani, Bhojpuri and Maithili. “In Hampi, we will conduct activities to showcase its connection with Kannada and Telugu languages. Thereafter we will go to different places and organise language-oriented events and in each programme human stories will emerge. If one speaks about the language in a city related to it, it is relevant. These activities including poetry symposium resonate with common people,” said a senior official of the ministry.
Kashi Utsav celebrated the classic heritage and culture of the city, especially centuries-old luminaries such as Goswami Tulsidas, Sant Kabir, Sant Raidas, Bhartendu Harishchandra, Munshi Premchand and Shri Jaishankar Prasad.The three-day festival at Thanjavur celebrated the traditions of Iyal (Literature), Isai (Music) and Natakam (Dance and Theatre) of Tamil Nadu, which was organised by the Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts (IGNCA).
“Earlier when the Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav was launched, the focus was on government activities but we realised later that it was not becoming ‘jan bhagidari’ as proposed. Largely our programmes were government-driven. We had brainstorming sessions and reoriented some of our initiatives to make partnerships with non-government sectors. As a result, the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) approached us for a mega-conference with the startup community. Brahma Kumaris will be doing functions at 75 locations across the globe,” said the official.