The Department of Culture organised a State-level Megha Utsav in collaboration with the Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi, the Odisha Sahitya Akademi, the Odisha lalit Kala Akademi, the District Council of Culture and the District Administration of Dhenkanal here for two days recently.
Inaugurating the fest on Friday evening as chief guest, State Tourism and Culture Minister Ashok Chandra Panda said in a bid to keep up the cultural flow of the State intact, his department had added three more festivals every year such as the Summer Festival, the Winter Festival and the Megha Utsav. last year, the Megha Utsav was organised in Angul, Panda added.
Speaking on the occasion as guest of honour, local MP Tathagat Satpathy said in his childhood he had seen most of the rickshaw pullers in Odisha were from Andhra Pradesh. But at present they are not seen because their livelihood problem has been sorted out. But surprisingly the people of Odisha continue to work as bonded labours in other States since long.
District Collector Bhupinder Singh Punia said Dhenkanal had received 35 per cent rain less this year. He hoped that there would be adequate rain after the Megha Utsav.
Among others, Sadar MlA and District Planning Committee Chairman Saroj Kumar Samal, State Co-operative Bank President Akshaya Mohanty, Cultural Director and Additional Secretary Amarendra Pattnaik, lalita Kala Akademi president Padmabhushan Raghunath Mohapatra and Sangeeta Natak Akademi secretary Pradeep Kumar Mishra spoke. In cultural programme, Odishi dance, Odishi vocal, Danda Nacha andPaik Nach were organized. The festival concluded on Saturday.