The State Government has decided that from this year, the birth anniversary of Statehood movement leader, the late Indramani Badoni on December 24, will be commemorated as Culture Day every year. The State’s Tourism, Culture and Youth Welfare minister Dinesh Dhanai held a meeting with the folk artistes of the State to outline the plan for celebrating the occasion.
Addressing the artistes of various folk art forms, the minister said that the State Government and Culture Department are going to organise the Culture Day for the first time and that their suggestions in this regard are important for the department. Expressing their views, the folk artistes attending the meeting acknowledged that commemoration of the Culture Day presents a golden opportunity to make the present and future generations aware of the State’s culture. The minister stressed on the need for the public to rise above the regional societal biases regarding those living in the mountainous areas and residents of the plains. Dhanai said, “Accepting the State Government’s decision, we will celebrate Badoni’s birth anniversary across the State. Residents of areas which are familiar with the personality and contribution of Badoni and take the initiative of involving people in areas where people are not familiar with Badoni. The general public should be informed about his contributions and his thoughts. He had played an important role in the public movement for creation of the Uttarakhand State,” said the minister. He said that competitions in essay writing and oration based on his life could be held for students in each district on the occasion. The minister further said that on Culture Day, specialist artistes linked to folk arts will be felicitated in each district by the Culture Department.
Folk artistes including lokesh Navani, Narendra Singh Negi, Basanti Bisht, Madhuri Barthwal, Atul Sharma, Pritam Bhartwan, Ganesh Khugsal, Nand lal Bharti and Culture department director Beena Bisht were among those present in the meeting.