Minister for Forests, Ecology and Environment Choudhary Lal Singh today said that co-curricular activities such as painting competitions help create social and cultural awareness among younger generation.The Minister was speaking at a Painting Exhibition-Cum-Prize Distribution function organised by Indian Art Centre in the auditorium of Govt. PG College for Women College, Gandhi Nagar, here today.The Painting Exhibition-Cum-Prize Distribution function was organised by Poonam Bhalgotra, M.K. Wadhera, RituWadhera, Ajay Kumar, Meenakashi Kotwal, Aprana Sharma, Svita Jena, Sonia Verma and Murdla.Addressing the gathering, the Minister said that Indian Art Centre is playing pivotal role in promoting and popularizing Jammu Dogra Art and Culture among the youth. He said the centre is developing Indian Miniature Art in the state. He informed that Indian Art Centre is providing free of cost art with painting material to the 150 students of the various schools of Jammu for preparing their paintings on Dogra art.
Choudhary Lal Singh said that preservation and conservation of India’s rich cultural heritage and promotion of all forms of art and culture both tangible and intangible, including monuments and archaeological sites, anthropology and ethnology, folk and tribal arts, literature and handicrafts, performing of art of music-dance-drama and visual arts of paintings-sculpture-graphics is essential and assumes a lot of importance for our youth.The Minister appealed the school administration not to allow students to use their mobile phones in school to avoid distraction in their studies.On the occasion, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests Ravi Kesar, Regional Director Pollution Control Board Choudhary Showkat Ahmed, Principal Shiksha Niketan Higher Secondary School Jeevan Nagar RameshwarMengi, National General Secretary Bharat Tibet SehyogManch Ajay Pargal besides students participated in the event.