Shirui festival kicks off

Pothashng News Service: Imphal, October 160, 2019: The third Shirui Lily Festival was kicked off on Wednesday at Shirui village of Ukhrul in presence of Manipur chief minister N. Biren Sing and Union minister of state for culture and tourism Prahlad Singh Patel.

The pompous festival inauguration was attended by a number of dignitaries and hundreds of people from different parts of the state.

Biren Singh said Manipur has been marching ahead and peace has been prevailed in the state with the love and blessings of the people since the two and half years and the festival could be organised in a grand manner. Earlier tourists were reluctant to visit the hill areas of the state due to the unwanted law and order situation, he added.

“Tthe proud moment of any government comes when there is equal and inclusive development in the region. With such objective, since its inception, the present government was pressurizing the Centre for a ‘topographical need based budget’ to bring inclusive development in the state,” Biren said.

The Centre implemented the Hill Areas Development Programme (HADP) for hilly states like Manipur. Among the 82 districts selected for the first phase, Manipur’s Tamenglong district has been selected and would be getting 90 crores for the development of the district under the programme, he added. He mentioned that the Ministry of DoNER has assured that all the hill districts of the state would be covered under the scheme.

Mentioning that around Rs. 600 crores would be spent for improving road connectivity in Ukhrul district, Biren said that around Rs. 250 crores has been sanctioned for the construction of roads connecting Kamjong and Tengnoupal district. He said TRIFED under ministry of Tribal Affairs has also agreed for setting up of 75 Van Dhan Vikas Kendras in the state.

Prahlad said there will be no tourism without culture. A collective effort is needed from all the stakeholders to explore ways to attract tourists to the state.The Northeast region is gifted with scenic beauty and rich cultural heritage which are one of the most important components of attracting tourists. Due to some wrong perception, the region is unable to attract the tourists and such perception needs to be broken, he added.

He said that he had written a letter to the Union HRD minister whether it is possible to make compulsory for the students of KVS and Navodaya Vidyalayas to visit the NorthEast region atleast once.  He mentioned that those who have witnessed the region at such age would always remember the region all through his/her lifetime.

Prahlad unveiled the ‘Strength of Unity’ pillar. He and Biren released a souvenir commemorating the glorious journey of 100 years of Ukhrul as an administrative sub-division.

They  inaugurated stalls and opened cultural programme presentations at Tangkhul Naga Long (TNL) ground at Ukhrul district headquarters as part of the four-day festival, which will continue till October 19. The two leaders then went to Bakshi ground and opened Shirock-2019 that will feature grand concerts of two internationally sought after bands Nazareth and Extreme and also a rock competition taken part by different bands from across the North East.

The ministers also inaugurated new constructed building of forest division office, Ukhrul.

Deputy chief minister Y. Joykumar Singh, ministers Karam Shyam, L. Dikho, V. Hangkhanlian, MP R.K. Ranjan, MP Lorho S. Phoze, tourism corporation of Manipur chairman, Sapam Ranjan, MLAs Khashim Vashum, O. Lukhoi, P. Brojen,  ADC c and members, chief secretary, Ukhrul DC Joseph Pauline, Kamjong DC Kengoo Zuringla and other high ranking state and Central government officials also attended the function.