Mangalore : District-in-Charge Minister B Ramanath Rai has called upon the organisers of State-level Yuvajana Mela, which will be held at Dakshina Kannada Zilla Panchayat Higher Primary School in Vittal, from December 6 to 8, to make it a colourful event which would bring fame to the district.

Addressing a preparatory meeting at Netravathi Auditorium at Zilla Panchayat here on Monday Nov 3, the Minister who is also the president of the organising committee directed the Deputy Commissioner A B Ibrahim to convene a meeting of officers who have been appointed as the heads of various committees. All should perform their duties well and co-ordination should be good, he said.

Youth Service, Sports and Fisheries Minister K Abhaychandra Jain said that division-level competitions will be completed by November third week. Swami Vivekananda State Youth awards will be conferred on two organisations (Rs 25,000 each) and six individuals (Rs 10,000 each).

The department will release Rs 5.30 lakh for the event and Rs 5 lakh for the award and the remaining amount will be collected from the gram panchayats. Meanwhile, Minister for Health and Family Welfare U T Khader announced Rs 1.5 lakh from the department.

Earlier, Organising Committee Working President M S Mohammed said that about 1,000 youth from Bengalore, Mysore, Belagaum and Gulbarga will participate in the event. On the day (December 6), a procession will be held from Jain Basadi to school premises at 3 pm. Swami Vivekananda State Award conferring ceremony will be held on December 7, at 5 pm. The valedictory programme will be held on December 8, at 5 pm.

Minister for Higher Education and Tourism R V Deshpande will inaugurate the programme, while Dharmasthala Dharmadhikari Dr D Veerendra Heggade will preside over. Youth Services, Sports and Fisheries Minister K Abhaychandra Jain will confer the awards. Railway Minister D V Sadananda Gowda, Kannada and Culture Minister Umashri and others will participate, he said.

Accommodation facility for men will be arranged at Anantheshwara Temple Sadana and St Rita High School. Women can stay at Vittal High School. “We have requested the SP to provide police band for the procession and the zilla panchayat to provide around 1,500 kits to competitors and officers. To provide butter milk on all three days, we have requested Karnataka Milk Federation (KMF),” he said.