Page 42 - Mann Ki Baat January, 2023
P. 42

Promod Sawant
                               Chief Minister, Goa
                   Purple Fest- Revolutionizing

                          Inclusivity in India


            The journey of Purple Fest    that we organized Purple Fest.
        has been extremely inspiring      The  programme  was  officially
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        for the State of Goa. From        organized from the 6  to the 8
        its inception to its execution,   of February, but the pre-event
        everything has been thoroughly    buzz was as good as the real
        thought through, and now, with    event. There were more than 30
        Prime  Minister  Narendra  Modi’s   activities like sports, blind cricket,
        mention of the Purple Fest in his   stage  events,  food  events,
        'Mann ki Baat' address, it has    blind conference, four national
        become an exemplary initiative,   events, fashion shows and many
        nationwide.                       individual activities in this festival
            It all began when our Social   that saw massive  participation
        Welfare Minister  Subhashphal     from over 50,000 people, with
        Desai   and   State  Disability   teams coming all the way from
        Commissioner       Guruprasad     Kashmir  to Kanyakumari.  This
        Pawaskar proposed the idea of     event was indeed a celebration
        Purple Fest to me, I immediately   of inclusivity for our Divyang
        gave it a go ahead, seeing how    brothers and sisters got the
        distinctive was the concept and   much-deserved platform and
        ideation of this programme. The   appreciation, to not only project
        success of this initiative even   their  talent  on  the  national,  but
        resulted in the Government of     even the international level.
        Goa declaring it an annual event     The organization committee
        with the Central Secretariat for   of the event put up a great show
        Social  Justice  willing  to  make   and did not leave any stone
        it a national event with surplus   unturned in making Purple Fest a
        grants, for this is an innovative   grand success. There were more
        opportunity for our Divyang       than 1,000 volunteers working
        friends  to   showcase   their    day and night to organize the
        creativity, talent and skills at the   programme and putting in all
        national front.                   their  hard  work  to  make  this  a
            It is a matter of great       success. Throughout the event,
        pride for the people of Goa       the  Social  Justice  Ministry


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