The members of the Pancham Ved Rachnatmank Manch (PVRM) blamed the Youth welfare department of Uttarakhand for indulging in hegemony and impartial behavior in organizing the ‘ Ekanki competition’ during the state festival. Addressing newsmen at press club here on Thursday, Anurag Verma of PVRM claimed that the groups which are awarded in this competition are actually not performing Ekanki (The one act play). In Ekanki uniformity of time space and event is especially important and only one act should be enacted but the department is felicitating such plays which have no connection with this style of theatre, he claimed. Verma further alleged that the criteria of age limit (which is 16-35 years) is also being regularly violated in this competition. He said that the department overlooks the actual artists in the competition and appoint such people as judges who have no association with theatre.
The members of the Manch also claimed that many districts are not even allowed to participate in the competition. They threatened to launch an agitation with the help of other organizations like ‘Samaj Va lok Kalyan Charitable Trust’, ‘D 2 S 2 music and creations’ and ‘Goraja lok Kalyan Samiti’ from January 12 if the department fails to correct itself.