Bhubaneswar: Odisha Government has decided to organize Youth Festivals in all 30 districts of the State during December 2023 to January 2024.
According to official sources, the Department of Sports and Youth Services (DSYS) is going to organise the festivals in all districts with an objective to engage the youth and provide a platform to showcase their talents.
Various cultural and other programmes will be conducted at the district level where the local youths can showcase their talents. The festival will be conducted for either for one or two days, as per the geographic size and youth population of the district.
All the 30 districts have been divided into six different clusters. Angul, Dhenkanal, Kandhamal, Nayagarh and Boudh districts have been put under Cluster-I while Bargarh, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Sambalpur, and Sundargarh districts in Cluster-II, and Cluster III (Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapada, Khordha, and Puri).
Similarly, Cluster IV districts are—Balasore, Bhadrak, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar; Cluster V (Gajapati, Ganjam, Rayagada, Koraput, and Malkangiri) and Cluster VI (Balangir, Kalahandi, Subarnapur, Nabarangpur, and Nuapada).
Various competitions will be conducted in arts, sports and games to test the skills and talents of the young people of the district, sources said. The Government has also planned to distribute specially designed T-Shirts to 5 lakh youths during the festivals.
In March, the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India organised a similar event– Yuva Utsava-India@2047. The programs in the first phase are being hosted by schools and colleges of the districts, with broad based participants/footfall from neighboring educational institutions apart from the Youth Volunteers and Members of Youth Club affiliated with NYKS.
The winners of the District Level participated at the State level Yuva Utsav held during August to September 2023 at State Capitals. The winners of all the State level programs have participated at the National Level Yuva Utsav held this month at Delhi.
As a part of Yuva Utsava, various Ministries, Departments/Agencies of State Governments and PSUs showcased their achievements and innovations to the youth of the youth of the country. So, it was expected that the State Government may also try to reach out to the youths through this youth festival.