‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ to celebrate cultural vibrancy of India - Dr. Mahesh Sharma

‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ to celebrate cultural vibrancy of India - Dr. Mahesh Sharma

M/o Culture organizes first national level workshop on ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’

“Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat” will celebrate the cultural vibrancy of India while establishing a concrete mechanism to inculcate nationalism and cultural awareness among the fellow citizens of our nation. Ministry of Culture will extend full support to implement the dream of the Prime Minister through ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ in true spirit”, said Dr. Mahesh Sharma, the Minister of State for Culture and Tourism (I/C) and Civil Aviation while addressing at the National Workshop on "Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat" here today. The National workshop was organised by Ministry of Culture in collaboration with NITI Aayog to initiate focused group discussion with various stakeholders.

Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog, Shri N.K. Sinha, Secretary(Culture), Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe, Director, Public Policy Research Centre, Shri K. K. Mittal, Additional Secretary(Culture), Shri M. L. Srivastava, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture and other dignitaries also graced the occasion. Senior officials representing different Ministries/Departments of the Government of India, State Governments, different Zonal Cultural Centres and other organizations participated in the workshop.

During the Rashtriya Ekta Divas address on 31st October, 2015 on the occasion of birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi announced that the Government of India proposes to launch a new initiative called ‘EK Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’. The programme aims to give a boost to the existing cultural connect between different parts of the country and enhance interaction between people living in different states.

Secretary (Culture) Shri. N. K. Sinha discussed in details, overview and objectives of the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat programme, areas of interaction and an implementation mechanism to attain these objectives.  In a technical session, the detailed presentation on Cultural Mapping of India was presented by Secretary (Culture). In his presentation, he also shared a detailed roadmap for dovetailing of Cultural Mapping of India with Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.

Officers from various States and Government of India organizations shared their views and measures taken by respective departments to promote culture and also expressed their thoughts in the perspective of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.

An elaborative presentation on the concept of 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat' was presented by Dr. Vinay Sahasrabuddhe followed by a welcome address by Nodal Officer for Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat and Joint Secretary, Ministry of Culture, Shri M. L. Srivastava.

Speaking at the wrap up session of the workshop, Shri Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog said “We should use our culture as a soft power to make our country a super power. We should find out roots, traditional techniques, and traditional art forms. We should identify traditional products and change them into tourism products.” He also added that the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat should be driven through the technology and various modern media.