Prime Minister Narendra Modi through video conferencing, would inaugurate the 20th National Youth Festival to be held in Naya Raipur from January 12, informed Chhattisgarh Sports and Youth Welfare Minister, Bhaiyalal Rajwade while addressing press conference here on Friday.
Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari has also provided his consent and would be present during the opening session of the Youth Festival, he said.
According to Rajwade, an amount of Rs12 crore has been sanctioned for holding the festival out of which 10 crore is State’s share while 2 crore was provided by the Central Government.
The Youth Festival dedicated to Swami Vivekananda was allotted to Chhattisgarh by the Central Government on September 10, 2015. The festival has been divided into five parts. In the competition part, participants from different states will contest to win prizes in 18 kinds of disciplines.
In non-competition part, youths coming from different states will showcase the culture of their respective states. The Nehru Youth Center will also organize different programmes like food festival, young artist camp and others, Rajwade said.
About 6,000 participants are expected to take part in the mega event, he said.
Director Sports Department Dinesh Shrivastav informed that five counters have been opened at the Raipur Railway station for receiving participants coming from other statesfor and transporting them to the programme venue. At Naya Raipur, the houses made by Chhattisagrh Housing Board at Sector 29 have been furnished in which participants will be housed, he said.