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| VMC clueless on ‘Vibrant Gujarat’ fete |
Express News Service
Vadodara, September 8:
Although the Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has lined up programmes
like troupe performances, a food bazaar, a handicraft mela to be
held at the Akota Stadium for the nine-day Navratri festival, the
civic corporation is waiting for a nod from the State Government
to finalise the plans. This time, the State Government plans to
celebrate the traditional Navratri festival as ‘Vibrant Gujarat’
fete in order to project a resilient image of the State to NRIs
and foreigners with a view to attracting foreign investment.
The hitch here, say top corporation officials, is absence of clear-cut
directions and funds from the State Government. The VMC authorities
say on their part they have tentatively chalked out a nine-day fete
at Akota stadium to be able to at least recover the expenses involved.
On the anvil therefore are performances by garba troupes selected
by the State Government and also participative sessions for the
audiences. There is also a food bazaar and handicrafts mela. The
local co-ordination committee, headed by civic officials, has also
met representatives of the local hotel and transport industries
for the organisation of the festival.
Besides, with a view to organising a smooth fund-raising event,
VMC has decided to host the celebrations in colloboration with another
organisation. For this purpose, it has held talks with the Indu
Blood Bank. The latter has agreed to co-host the fete. However,
at this stage all the plans are hazy.
City Mayor N V Patel confirmed that all the present plans had not
been completely finalised. ‘‘Nothing concrete has been given to
us by the State Government. We are planning things for the Navratri
so that we are not caught unawares at the last moment,’’ he said.
He also categorically said there was no clear-cut commitment from
the State Government. If things continue in this vein in the future,
the civic body might shelve the plans altogether. According to VMC
sources, the approximate cost of the festival is expected to be
around Rs 12 lakh. Dr Vijay Shah of
the Indu Blood Bank also preferred to keep his fingers crossed.
‘‘Since we have not received any formal letter
here, I cannot say anything. It also involves fund-raising which
can be done only after a definite commitment,’’ he added.
However, the State Government is clear about one thing. It has despatched
letters to all the 72 VMC councillors requesting them to accord
full hospitality to the foreigners and NRIs expected to arrive for
the nine-day festival.
For this, the corporators have been directed to fill up consent
forms. The NRIs and the foreign guests would be taken care of by
the Gujarat Tourism Limited.
According to Municipal Secretary Pinakin Joshi, so far, four councillors,
including the mayor, have expressed willingness to host the guests.
They include Mayor N V Patel, former mayor Bharti Vyas, Congress
leader Anuj Patel and Independent councillor Yogesh Patel.
However, the councillors say they would like to have the details
of the guests they are expected to host. According to Joshi, some
of the women councillors would prefer to host women guests after
checking their antecedents. Joshi added that they intend to also
write shortly a letter to the Gujarat Tourism requesting them to
provide them the details of the anticipated guests. |
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| Garba organisers foxed by 10 pm deadline |
TIMES NEWS NETWORK [
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 05, 2002 11:53:50 PM ]
AHMEDABAD/VADODARA: "Garba permission till 1.30 am... sound permission
till 10 pm! 'Shun karishu'?" The fact that the drums will have to
go silent even before people started matching garba-steps, in accordance
with the SC order banning the use of loudspeakers this Navratri,
has left garba-organisers foxed.
"The Supreme Court order, as far as we interpret, is for organisations
that use loudspeakers throughout the year. I don't know how it has
been made applicable for a programme that goes on for just nine
days. Moreover, its not just noise and dance, Navratri and garba
are also aesthetically pleasing," feels Dr
Vijay Shah, organiser of the famous
BITA-Indu Blood bank garba.
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