MANGALDAI, April 16 - Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi has stressed the need of economic development along with cultural and literary uplift of all sections of people in the society. He was addressing a public meeting as the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the first edition of the Darrang Mahotsav at the Kachari Maidan here on Friday afternoon. The Chief Minister said, "We should all work altogether to create an atmosphere in which our new generation finds a ray of hope for the future and the Darrang Mahotsav is such a platform." Hailing the organisers for their initiative to hold the Darrang festival for the first time, Gogoi said that the festival has successfully showcased the diversified culture and pave the way for formation of a rich society through friendship and brotherhood among different ethnic communities, but the real purpose of such a festival will be fruitful if people from all sections of the society can participate in it for which economic uplift is a must.
Earlier, the Chief Minister released the souvenir titled Dourang published on the occasion of the festival before the 5,000-odd audience. He also enjoyed the performance of the traditional Deodhani and Bihu dances. The closing function was also attended by Tanka Bahadur Rai, Minister for Planning & Development and Law, Dalgaon MLA Ilias Ali and Kalaigaon MLA Mukunda Ram Choudhury as special guests. It was also addressed by Basanta Das, Minister, Fishery, I&PR, etc., and Sohrab Ali, president of the organising committee and the Deputy Commissioner, Darrang.
The function, which lasted for one-and-a-half hours, was anchored by journalist Bhargab Das. There was a performance of the traditional Deodhani dance by the artistes of Sipajhar Cultural Centre and Bihu dance by the artists of voluntary organisation Zebra Force, Mangaldai .
Before the start of the function, the Chief Minister inaugurated new office buildings ofthe Treasury Office and the Ambedkar Bhawan, while the foundation stone of six other proposed developmental schemes under the PWD, Health, Education and Irrigation were laid down after which the organising committee greeted the chief guest with a memento, jacket, punjabi-kurta, etc., made of locally available nuni-pat yarn. Before leaving for Guwahati by helicopter, the Chief Minister visited the ORS manufacturing unit, Trinty Fructo Pvt Ltd under the SRD group located in an industrial estate here.

Courtesy: by VOA team.