With an aim to make next year’s Kumb mela as ‘Divya Kumbh, Bhavya Kumbh’ Uttar Pradesh Government has invited private houses to utilise their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) fund to set up infrastructure in the Kumbh Mela ground to be held at the sangam in Allahabad in January.
The Government has issued advertisements inviting business houses to play an important role in making Kumbh Mela this year as a global event. “The Government wants that private players should chip in through CSR in building infrastructure for this massive project,” a senior official in Tourism Department told The Pioneer here.
Refusing to be named for obvious reasons he said that there is no compulsion on any organisation. If they want to bid and utilise their CSR for social work they should come and utilise their funds for setting up tent cities, or water ATMs, or setting up temporary laterins or even help the State Government in controlling sewerage system, he said.
“This will be done in a transparent manner. Everyone will know how much a company is contributing and what work exactly it is doing,” he said adding that private entrepreneurs help will only help Government to save money,” the official said.
The Government is gearing up to make this Kumbh Mela a global event for that 15th Pravasi Diwas will be held in Varanasi, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency, from January 21 to 23.
The big captains of the global industry as well as ambassadors attending that function will be taken to Allahabad and will be exposed to the magnitude of Kumbh Mela. “The Government is giving private players an opportunity to showcase their wares through advertisements,” the official said.
Government is not only inviting private players but has invited applications for young professions for the effective planning and execution of the Kumbh Mela. The young Professionals will be hired on contract basis. “The Government is looking for professionals from various disciplines such as infrastructure, environment, data analysis and finance. These young Professionals will be required to provide coordination, management and monitoring help to the Mela Development Authority. They will have to assist in data collection and fund planning for Kumbh Mela,” the official said.
He said that the professionals will be engaged in different activities according to their field of work such as the work of designing and developing structures, layouts, mapping for different infrastructure assets will be done by those who have worked in this field. In addition to these roles, some other roles would be– development of Standard Operating Procedures for quality control, networking with different stakeholders, creation of mass awareness campaigns.
The Uttar Pradesh government has termed the Kumbh as ‘Divya Kumbh, Bhavya Kumbh’ and looking to make it a memorable event. The Kumbh will be held from January 15 to March 9, 2019.