[CURTAIN RAISER] 

The National Mission for Clean Ganga (NMCG), Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti is organizing Ganga Utsav- The River Festival 2022 on 4^th November, 2022 at Major Dhyan Chand Stadium in New Delhi in two sessions. The Union Minister for Culture, Tourism & DoNER, Shri G. Kishan Reddy, will be the Chief Guest in the morning session in the gracious presence of the Minister for State, Jal Shakti and Tribal Affairs Shri Bishweswar Tudu. Union Minister for Jal Shakti, Shri Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, will preside over the evening session in the presence of Shri Pankaj Kumar, Secretary, Department of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation, Ministry of Jal Shakti and Shri Govind Mohan, Secretary, Ministry of Culture. 

NMCG will be taking Ganga Utsav- The River Festival 2022 to newer heights through active and inspirational participation of multiple stakeholders. One of the main objectives of Ganga Utsav 2022 is to celebrate our rivers and spread awareness on the significance of river rejuvenation across river basins in India. Dedicating the grand event to the 75 years of Indian Independence (Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav), the aim is to hold similar events at more than 75 locations in states to celebrate the rivers of India. Various activities of Ganga Utsav will take place at central, state, and district levels on both physical and virtual platforms.

• Various activities of Ganga Utsav will take place at central, state, and district levels
• Major contributors to the Clean Ganga Fund to be felicitated by Union Jal Shakti Minister
• Arth Ganga will be focus area as it aims to establish people-river connect
• District Ganga Committees mobilized to ensure ardent participation in Ganga Utsav
• A mini food festival will be part of the Ganga Utsav 2022
• Film screening and a storytelling session to also be conducted
• The Ganga Utsav 2022 is being developed as a model for River Festivals

Ganga Utsav 2022 will be an exciting blend of art, culture, music, knowledge, poetry, dialogue, and stories. The event at New Delhi will witness exuberant dance and musical performances from renowned artists including Dr. G. Padmaja Reddy, Padma Shri, Sh. Siddhartha Banerjee, Ms. Megha Nair, Sh. Bimal Jain, Folk Dance Performance from Uttarakhand and Rajasthani etc. To impart a sense of spiritualism and motivate the youths to partake in river rejuvenation, Dr. Chitra Roy from Art of Living will be doing satsang. In order to rope-in the young crowd to the Ganga Utsav 2022, several activities like Puppet Show, Film Screening, Painting, Pottery & Nest Making Workshop, Book Stall. A mini food festival will be part of the Ganga Utsav 2022. The food stalls from Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and West Bengal will be set up for the people to feast on. There will be a dedicated children activity area organised by GIZ and Tree Craze Foundation to enthral the younger crowd with fun-filled activities to the cause of river rejuvenation. Post-lunch break, film screening will be conducted and a storytelling session by Ms. Rituparna Ghosh is also scheduled to be held in Ganga Utsav 2022.

In the evening session, major contributors to the Clean Ganga Fund will also be felicitated by the Union Minister for Jal Shakti. Parallel activities on the rivers, including Ganga and its tributaries will be organized at more than 75 stations across the country. District Ganga Committees (DGCs) are being mobilized to ensure ardent participation in the Ganga Utsav 2022. Several awareness activities will take place in districts to establish a connection with the locals, and promote Namami Gange as a mass movement.

The Ganga Utsav 2022- The River Festival is being developed as a model for River Festivals with the aim to connect people to the rivers and inculcate its importance. This is being done by bringing together celebrities, dignitaries and influencers from different walks of life on one platform, and celebrating rivers by bringing awareness to keep it clean and healthy. All mediums — print and digital — are being leveraged to reach out to the largest number of people and efforts have been made to organize Ganga Utsav 2022 in a way that sees massive participation from the grassroots organizations, on-ground cadres of volunteers and district administrators, and truly make this a Jan Bhagidari event. The festival will continue at different levels and through various central and district levels platforms, the activities will take place through partners, stakeholders, and an army of volunteers, who are joining the drive to clean rivers, ecology and environment. 

Ganga Utsav 2022 will also have Arth Ganga as its focus area as it aims to establish people-river connect through the “bridge of economics” and will be an excellent platform to communicate the importance of rivers vis-a-vis the employment generational initiatives taken up under Arth Ganga model, which includes Natural Farming, Ghat Pe Haat, Jalaj, Training of Ganga Sewaks, Ganga Artis etc. The six important verticals of Arth Ganga are Zero Budget Natural Farming, Monetization and Reuse of Sludge & Wastewater, Livelihood Generation, Public Participation, Cultural Heritage & Tourism and Institutional Building. NMCG has already organised several workshops to nudge the farmers to shift to Natural Farming along the Ganga Basin. Hundreds of farmers participated in workshop/training in Shirdi, Bulandshahr, Sonipat and Haridwar.

Taking inspiration from the speech of Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi on 26th September 2021, the central aim of the Ganga Utsav- The River Festival 2022 is to celebrate all the rivers of India (Nadi Utsav). NMCG has been celebrating Ganga Utsav since 2017 every year on 4th November, the day on which river Ganga was declared the National River of India in the year 2008. NMCG is organizing Ganga Utsav 2022 in association with Wildlife Institute of India (WII), INTACH, GIZ, National Book Trust, Ganga Task Force, Ganga Vichar Manch, NGOs, schools, colleges, Resident Commissioners, State Tourism Department, State Cultural Units, Tree Craze Foundation, APAC, Water Digest, and other stakeholders. 

 

Background of the Ganga Utsav

Initially, the festival started off as ‘Ek Shaam Ganga Ke Naam’, a small event involving limited stakeholders in 2017. With the help of international association such as Indo-German collaboration, the event subsequently developed into ‘Bal Ganga Mela’ in 2018. The Bal Ganga Mela 2018 was organized in association with HCL Foundation. In 2019, the event progressed as a carnival wherein it witnessed enthusiastic participation of thousands of people with a focused approach towards roping in school students and youth.

The third edition of Ganga Utsav 2020 was a three-day virtual event and steadily took shape as the River Festival. The event was an interesting amalgamation of technology and cultural events. In spite of Covid restrictions, the Utsav was a huge success with over 3 lakh registrations and participants from across the country, joined through video conferencing and other social media platforms. The reach of three-day Ganga Utsav was in millions nationally and saw a global audience witnessing the various activities unfold over live. It also brought together a number of partners, stakeholders, communities, and volunteers, who helped in carrying out activities at the ground level and connected people to Ganga and its ecology.

 

Ganga Utsav 2021- the River Festival was celebrated as a festival part of the ‘Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav’. While the main event was held in New Delhi for three days, several events and activities also took place at the district and village level beyond 3rd November, 2021. The events celebrated the rivers on a continuous basis and carried out massive public outreach activities. Another unique feature of Ganga Utsav 2021 was the collaborative partnership between various governmental and non-governmental entities. This included community support as well as volunteers who connected people with Ganga and pledged to keep the rivers clean and healthy.

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AS

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