Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Dr Pawan Kotwal convened a meeting of senior officers to finalize the arrangements for Jammu Festival- 2016 here today.The meeting was attended by IGP Danish Rana, Director Tourism R K Verma, Director School Education, Smitha Sethi, Joint Director Tourism Namrita Dogra, Joint Director Information Nagendra Singh Jamwal, Station Director Doordarshan Jammu, Anjali Sharma, Station Director Radio Jammu, V K Sambyal, Joint Commissioner JMC R S Jamwal, President Chamber of Commerce & Industries Jammu, Rakesh Gupta, concerned senior officers, representatives of various tourism, travel and trade associations.
Director Tourism Jammu R K Verma informed the Divisional Commissioner about the various events to be organized during the festival. It was given out that for the first time an event management company will organize the events in a professional manner.It was proposed in the meeting that the live performance by renowned singers Hans Raj Hans & Master Saleem, Laser Show, LED TRON Show, performances by local artists, Heritage Walk and cultural programmes would be organized during the Jammu Festival.During the meeting, suggestions were also taken from various stakeholders including representatives of Tourism, travel and trade associations for making the Jammu Festival a grand success.Speaking on the occasion, Dr. Kotwal stressed for providing a platform to the local artists so that they would promote the culture of the region besides attracting the tourists. He desired that programmes should be organized at different locations, including Mubarak Mandi, Bagh-e-Bahu, Akhnoor, border areas like Suchetgarh etc so that people including tourists would visit these areas and border tourism would be promoted.It was also desired that the live performances of Gojri, Dogri, Pahari, Bhaderwahi etc would be given priority during the festival to spread the culture of the region.Director Tourism was asked to involve the Academy of Art, Culture & Languages for showcasing the rich culture of the Jammu division.
The Divisional Commissioner directed the Director Tourism to redesign the festival by incorporating the suggestions made by the various stakeholders.The Divisional Commissioner asked the members of various organizations present in the meeting to cooperate with the department of tourism in organizing the festival by announcing discounts during the festival to attract the tourists. It was also desired that members related to the Tourism Trade Industry would actively involve their associations for the success of the festival by way of decorations & illumination of all hotels, restaurants, lodges etc during the festival days.JKTDC, NGOs and other establishments were asked to put up food, handicrafts and other stalls at the venue for the attraction of tourists and locals.Joint Director Information was asked to provide wide coverage of the events to be organized during the festival while Tourism Department will make arrangements for installing banners & flex hoardings at prominent places in and outside the city about the events.