State govt and people equally responsible in taking state forward: Najma Heptullah

By A Staff Reporter

IMPHAL | Nov 30

The ten days festival of celebrating culture unity, peace and diversity has come to a hesitating end today and the grand valedictory function was held at Bhagyachandra Open Air Theatre (BOAT), Palace Compound.

The function was attended by governor of Manipur, Najma Heptullah, governor of Meghalaya, Ganga Prasad, chief minister of Manipur, Nongthombam Biren Singh and deputy chief minister, Y. Joykumar Singh as presidium members.

Speaking as chief guest, Najma Heptullah said that this year’s Sangai festival saw a lot that the state has never witnessed and said that this is the beginning of a new era for the state in becoming a new tourist hub.

Dressed in a traditional attire of Rongmei tribal community, the governor said that the state with its bountiful share of beauty has a great tourism potential. The Act East Policy powered by the central government is also poised to open up new avenues for tourism, she added.

She also maintained that the state government and people are equally responsible in taking the state forward. If the tourism potential is tapped successfully, the state can also maintain a vibrant economy, she added.

This festival is successful as crowded and served its purpose of peace progress and prosperity, she lamented.

Highlighting that the festival is a rare platform where the artistes of the state have a chance to show their talents, she urged them to continue their efforts for improving their performance so that the rich cultural heritage of the state is displayed in its true spirit to entice the tourists.

Chief minister in his presidential speech, congratulated Mirabai Chanu for setting a new world record by lifting 85kg in snatch and 109kg in clean and jerk to total an impressive 194kg in the women’s 48kg, in the World Weightlifting Championship at USA by Saikhom Mirabai Chanu.

He said that the participation of the President, Ram Nath Kovind on the inaugural day of the North East Development Summit is one of the most successful initiatives of the festival. 39 MoUs that were signed with different investors from within the country as well as from abroad for development of the state in connection with food processing, tourism, IT sectors and others are important signs that tourists are interested to invest in our state, he added.

The CM stressed that the participation of countries like Bhutan, Cambodia, Egypt, Haiti, Japan, Laos, Maldives, Myanmar, Russia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Taiwan, Turkey, U.A.E. and Zimbabwe has been a huge crowd puller this year.

Administrative secretaries and officials who have taken responsibilities for the success of the festival were felicitated by the chief minister at the function. The valedictory function was attended by thousands and concluded with a good note by mesmerising choreography on the theme of Sangai festival, ‘Celebrating Unity, Culture and Diversity’ by noted choreographer, Amusana Devi.

People thronged to the festival venues to have a moment at the eleventh hour. Traffic jam decorated the streets with lights and horns.