Dasara: DC for sweeping reforms

Doing away with sub-committees, holding separate district utsav on par with other utsavs, scrapping the system of issuing passes to watch the jamboo savari and appointing a separate special officer are some of the suggestions made by Deputy Commissioner Harsh Gupta regarding the world-famous Dasara festival.

These recommendations have been made to the State government by the DC for considering them so as to make the celebrations much more grandeur.

The copy of the report was released to the media by the deputy commissioner. In the report, he has suggested to the government to celebrate ‘Jilla Utsav’ in Mysore as being celebrated in other districts.

In that utsav, other programmes organised during ten-day Dasara festivities like- Yuva Dasara, Women and Children Dasara, Raitha Dasara, Food Mela, Yoga Dasara, Grameena Dasara, Air show, Dasara Darshan, Chess and Skating contests could be organised.

The idea behind this was to preserve the sanctity of the traditional Dasara like jamboo savari, torch light parade, poet’s meet, wrestling and sports that are spread over ten days. People want those programmes to be celebrated in a neat manner. The government releases crores of rupees to make Dasara attractive and it was also endeavour of the district administration that the funds are utilised for justful purposes.

Naada Habba

Since Dasara has been declared as ‘Naada Habba’ that should portray rich cultural heritage of the festival.  It should act as a spring board for the promotion of tourism in this region. The money released should be utilised on making main programmes a grand success.

He said, no doubt people had been patronising some of the new events that were included as part of the festival. But it was better to include them in ‘Jilla Utsav’ to be held during second or third week of February. Rains are common feature during Dasara festival and it would obstruct many programmes.

Taking all these factors into consideration it would be better to hold it during February as other districts too hold utsavs during the same time. However, the government has to release the funds separately for ‘jilla utsav ‘ apart from the main Dasara festival.

Free passes

The DC has noted that issuing invitation (passes) to watch the Jamboo Savari inside the palace premises and also torch light parade in Bannimantap Grounds was creating problems. Tourists who flock the city from all over the world do not get a chance to witness those programmes.

In view of this, it was better to fix 50 :50 ratio for passes and tickets. A transparent policy should be framed to decide while issuing passes for VVIPs, VIPs and number of passes. Doing this would streamline the entire system.

Gupta said Dasara related works start at least three to four months in advance. Officials are appointed as working presidents depending upon their capacity and integrity. They would be involved in fixing artists for their respective programmes. They needed at least three to months time to fix senior and noted artists for important programmes.

But the chairmen, vice-presidents and committee members are appointed in the eleventh hour and their appointments do not have any yardstick or transparency. They would unnecessarily put pressure on working presidents to include the programmes of their choice even though the programmes were fixed much earlier.

Besides, those chairmen and vice-presidents demand separate offices and vehicles which are nothing but mere waste of funds. Many a times officials were put into pressure and sometimes face criticisms unnecessarily.

Since all the programmes are finalised after approval of the high power committee and the same is being implemented by a team of officials led by the deputy commissioner, there was no need for sub-committees, chairmen, vice-presidents and scores of members.

The nominated chairmen were more bothered about their self-prestige rather than making programmes successful. This would end up in total chaos. As they would shirk from their responsibilities even indiscipline crop up. The government had to take firm steps in this regard.

Commitment

The DC opined that implementing all these reforms would help in organising the ‘Nada Habba’ in a grand scale besides maintaining its pomp and gaiety. Creating separate authority would not help without taking steps to bring reforms in the celebrations.

He said the government issues order appointing deputy commissioner as special officer. Instead it was better to make the DC as the special officer permanently.

Since the DC would be in charge of the entire district it would be possible for him to know interest of officials, capacity and selecting officers to make the Dasara festival grand. The government had to only issue order after going through the recommendations.