The twin cities of Hubballi Dharwad are all set to host the five-day 26th National Youth Festival (NYF) and with Prime Minister Narendra Modi scheduled to inaugurate it, the festival is going to be a memorable one for participants.
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Mr. Modi will address youths at the Railway Grounds in Hubballi on Thursday at 4 p.m. and elaborate arrangements have been made by the district administration. The police have beefed up security.
While the inaugural event is in Hubballi, all events related to NYF are being held at seven venues located on the campus of Karnatak College, Karnatak University, and University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS) in Dharwad till Jan. 16. Important roads and junctions in Dharwad have been spruced up, while only the route of the PM’s convoy has been spruced up in Hubballi. All the important buildings and heritage structures in Dharwad are also being illuminated for the event.
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According to officials, around 8,000 delegates from 28 States and eight Union Territories are participating in the event, which promises to be a grand spectacle of country’s unity in diversity.
The Karnatak College ground in Dharwad will be the most frequented venue of the whole event as cultural programmes will be presented on a huge stage, which has the heritage building of KCD as its backdrop. Gourmets will see 45 food stalls serving traditional delicacies of various States.
Special kits
All the delegates of the youth event will be provided with a special kit made from recycled raw materials. Each kit will have ID card, steel water bottle, a high-durability backpack, eight items required for daily use, yoga mat, tracksuit, event menu, a booklet having information on historic and tourist places in Dharwad, the famous Dharwad Peda, tri-colour frame made at Garag and Khadi Gramodyoga Sangha in Bengeri, Hubballi, and a book ‘Youth of India’ published by Arubindo Trust. The participants will carry a special memento with them while returning.
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Already 24x7 helpdesk have been set up at railway stations and bus stations in the twin cities and also at the airport. The delegates will have around 300 doctors and 500 paramedical staff to take care of their health during their stay. According to Deputy Commissioner Gurudatta Hegde, 50 beds have been reserved in hospitals and 11 dedicated ambulances to attend to any emergency.
At UAS, in Dharwad, a mega kitchen has been set up for preparing food for the 8,000 delegates. A Bengaluru-based catering company has been given the responsibility of preparing a wide range of dishes of different cuisine, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian. The delegates will also be served north Karnataka dishes.
As part of NYF, General Thimmaiah National Adventure Academy, in collaboration with Indian Mountaineering Institute, Delhi, has for the first time organised crash courses in scuba diving and rock climbing, and aerial training in collaboration with Jakkur National Aeronautical Training Institute, and is conducting practical and theory classes for four hours every day for registered participants.
Gift to PM
The organisers have planned to gift a small statue of Swami Vivekananda sculpted using Bidri Art and national flag made in Garag and Bengeri to the Prime Minister during the inaugural event. The district administration will felicitated the Prime Minister with a special handloom shawl with ‘Dharwad Kasuti’, Haveri’s famous cardamom garland.