Government contemplating to involve local artist and singers to highlight 50 years  glorious journey of State : Jai Ram Thakur

Shimla : The State Government was contemplating to involve folk artists and folk singers in a big way to highlight the 50 years of glorious journey of Statehood through folk songs, music, skits, one act play and short plays. This was stated by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur while interacting with folk artists of the State through video conferencing from Shimla today. This was first such occasion, when government interacted with folk artist to promote the culture of the State.Chief Minister said that the State Government was celebrating 50 years of Statehood in a befitting manner which would be marked by organizing 51 State level events throughout the State to educate and inform the people about the developmental achievements of the State. He said that the Swarnim Rath Yatra would be organized from 15th April, 2021 and would cover all the areas of the State showcasing the development journey of the State during last 50 years.Jai Ram Thakur said the State Government was planning that in order to make Swarnim Rath Yatra and Golden Jubilee celebrations more attractive and effective in deriving home the achievements of the State during last 50 years, folk artists would be involved. He said that since the State has different dialects in almost all the areas, efforts would be made to take the services of the artists of that particular area where the Swarnim Rath was passing through.Chief Minister said that this would not only help in making the Swarnim Rath Yatra catch attraction of the masses but also easily educate the masses regarding achievements of the State. He said that similarly folk artists would also be involved in skits and dramas in local dialects which would show case the development the state has achieved during the last fifty years in different sectors.Jai Ram Thakur urged the folk artists of the State to compose songs and skits in local dialects and submit the same to the Information and Public Relations Department by 5th of next month. He said that this would help the Government in making an attractive and meaningful event besides promoting rich culture of the State.

Jai Ram Thakur said that a State level Committee would be constituted to scrutinize the compositions received from the artists which would be finalized to be used during the Swarnim Rath Yatra and other events.Chief Minister said that the folk artists of the State have also played a major role in this developmental journey in the State by preserving the rich culture and traditions. He said that Government was committed towards welfare of the artists and was giving them preference in cultural events organized during the local festivals and functions.Noted artists of the State Dr. K.L. Sehgal, Vicky Chauhan, Kuldeep Sharma, Daleep Sirmauri, Thakur Dass Rathi, Inderjeet Singh, Vidyanand Saraik, Suresh Sharma, Prabhu Negi, Dheeraj Sharma, Parmjeet Pammy and Rajneesh Bhardwaj also gave their suggestions on the occasion.Director, Information and Public Relations Harbans Singh Brascon while welcoming the Chief Minister urged the artists to submit their compositions to the concerned DPROs so that these could be submitted to the department for further scrutiny.The folk artist thanked the Chief Minister for this initiative to interact with them which has given them proper guidance and would be of immense use in future. They said that this kind of endeavour would go a long way in conservation and highlighting the culture of the State.  Additional Chief Secretary Information and Public Relations J.C. Sharma, Joint Directors Arti Gupta and Mahesh Pathania and other senior officers were present on the occasion.