TravTalk India Online Magazine
Govind Mohan, Secretary, Ministry of Culture, shares how important South Indian states are and what needs to be done at the state level to ensure the right publicity for their flagship programme – Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. He suggests the need for equal participation of states and centre towards pushing for publicity of local events.
Nisha Verma
At a recent conference of the Tourism and Culture Ministers of the Southern Region, Govind Mohan emphasised the importance of South India, stating that the southern region of India has almost 40 percent of the total number of centrally protected sites. “There are 506 such sites in Karnataka alone, out of a total of 3,600 that are centrally protected by ASI.” As a result, these sites, as well as the entire region, are absolutely vital to ASI. South Indian states and union territories are an integral aspect of the Ministry of Culture’s outreach effort (MOC). “We’re in constant contact with these states’ concerned departments and will continue to engage with them,” he said.
Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav
This year’s flagship programme for MOC is Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. Mohan highlighted the position by saying, “It is a significant Ministry endeavour, and we have concluded approximately 7000 programmes as part of it, with many of them taking place in the Southern states. The goal is to raise the visibility, reach, and impact of these programmes and take them to a new level.”
He urged the southern states’ tourism and culture ministers and secretaries to treat these initiatives as a national project and a shared legacy. “We want you to push it very vigorously and effectively to various other departments in the state government,” he added.
He also stated that MOC is fully cognisant of the southern states’ rich cultural heritage and will continue to engage with them to further the cause of art and culture. “We will also be celebrating Gurudev Shri Aurobindo’s 150th anniversary that will be centred in Puducherry and Auroville, however the entire country will participate as he was an idol for everyone” Mohan explained.
Seeking states’ support
Despite the fact that the MOC has launched the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav Program, Mohan claims that the level of spread and reach that they had hoped for has yet to be seen. “We haven’t made much of an effect on social media either. We still have a long way to go in terms of social media reach. I suggest that ministers and secretaries of tourism and culture in South Indian states collaborate with their other departments.”
“At the national level, there is a national implementation committee headed by the Home Minister and overseen by the Prime Minister at regular intervals. All states must place the same priority on execution, and state-level implementation committees led by senior ministers who can examine review what has been done, what needs to be done, and then carry out those programmes. You can either design huge programmes with a lot of reach, impact, and visibility, or you can curate smaller programmes that fit into one of the Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’s themes,” he indicated.
You might brand them with the Prime Minister’s approved logo and the hashtag #AmritMahotsav. The aim is to spread awareness through social media and print media, so that more people are aware. As a result, I’d want to encourage our states and our friends in the states to take this event seriously and work towards putting on large-scale activities and publicising them so that the events and message reach the final link in the chain. Also, keep the central ministry aware of the efforts being made in all states so that we can publicise these programmes at a national level and make them a huge success, as our Prime Minister envisions.”
