Pravasi Bharatiya Divas has a chaotic Day 2

Chaos ruled the second day of the prestigious Pravasi Bharatiya Divas as several delegates virtually ran from pillar to post trying to find a place to sit.

The main hall at the Birla Auditorium, the venue of the inaugural function, was full half an hour before the start of the programme where Prime Minister Manmohan Singh delivered his inaugural address on Sunday and those who came later were asked to go to the balcony. There were reports that cri­cket legend Brian Lara, part of the delegation of Chief Guest of the event the PM of Trinidad and Tobago, was ta­k­en to the auditorium after a delay as there was no space inside.

Within a few minutes, the balcony also was full and there were no chairs even for delegates to sit forcing a few of them to look for space on the ground floor of the auditorium.

The event’s host Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot admitted as much in his spe­ech.

“I am aware that there is limited space in the hall, which troubled some of the delegates. I assure you that next time we will have these kind of events at much
bigger venue,” he said.

Many people, including delegates, kept standing on the stairs on the ground floor prompting announcements by the organisers that the Special Protection Group will not allow the PM to come onto the stage unless everyone took their seats as it was a security issue.

Many people had to run from the balcony to the ground floor to find a place to sit. For journalists, who had turned up in large numbers, it was no different as they had to sit at the back of the hall through the inaugural session. The delegates blamed the organisers for the chaos and said they should have found a larger space for the programme or restricted the number of invitees.