Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur participated in the 3rd National Committee Meeting of Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav organized by the Ministry of Culture at New Delhi today. Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired the meeting. Governor apprised about various initiatives undertaken for promoting natural farming, plantation drives and promotion of Sanskrit language in the state. He informed that he visited the border districts of Kinnaur and Lahaul Spiti and interacted with people about their culture, developmental schemes and other local issues like obstacles coming in construction of roads etc due to Forest Act.
He also informed that more than 1.71 lakh farmers have switched over to natural farming in the state. Efforts are afoot to make Himachal Pradesh into a completely natural farming state in the coming fifteen years, he added. He said that Sanskrit communication skills workshops were conducted in Rajbhawan for officials to acquaint them with the language. The Chief Minister informed that the state government is actively celebrating the spirit of patriotism under the banner of Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and added that 170 special programmes have been organized across the state so far. He said that a target of providing 17.50 lakh flags through Deputy Commissioners has been fixed under the “Har Ghar Tiranga” Campaign by the State Government. He said that the state government is making efforts to publish literature about the contribution of freedom fighters and unsung heroes of the freedom struggle. He said that District Digital Repository has been constituted under the chairmanship of Deputy Commissioner in every district to create a data bank of freedom fighters, historical places, famous personalities and Art and Craft of each district.
Jai Ram Thakur said that the historical heritage of 75 villages have been compiled and a project has been submitted to the Ministry of Culture, Government of India for preservation of the glorious culture and traditions of these villages for posterity. He said that a survey of 7794 villages out of total 8059 villages has been completed under “Mera Gaon Meri Dharohar”. Efforts would be made to generate awareness about the cultural heritage of these villages, he added. He said that the state has chalked out a calendar of events to be conducted by various state government departments under the banner of Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav upto 15th August, 2023. He said that two committees have been set up at state level under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary and added that District level committees have also been set up at districts level to celebrate the proud occasion of 75 years of independence in a befitting manner. He said that directions have been issued for the use of the logo of Azaadi ka Amrit Mahotsav on all official stationary, file covers, envelopes, informative brochures, emails and official communication and functions. Union Cabinet Ministers, Governors, Lieutenant Governors, Chief Ministers attended the meeting.
