Panjab govt. is hosting the Rangla Panjab (Colorful Panjab) festival in Amritsar from 23 Feb. This is an effort to promote the state as a global tourist destination. Just as Amritsar got a massive facelift ahead of the G20 summit last year, the municipality has painted and drawn symbols and scenes from Panjab’s heritage on various prominent spots in the city. Major singers will perform at Heritage Street, Gobindgarh Fort, and so on. Last week, Amritsar also celebrated a five-day literature festival at Khalsa College. Panjabi singer and BJP Lok Sabha member Hans Raj Hans launched the festival. Books from over 110 publishers across the country were available at stalls. The festival reports sales are yet to be calculated but is in the range of $30K. Meanwhile, Panjab Ration Depot Owners met Governor Banwari Lal Purohit to express discontent over how the state government’s new scheme, Ghar Ghar Muft Ration (Free Ration at your Door), is impacting their livelihoods and violates the National Food Security Act. The Act has 14M beneficiaries in Panjab. Terming the scheme launched by the state government illegal, Gurjinder Singh Sidhu, president of the union, stated that the bags in which the flour is distributed ‘bears the AAP name and photo of chief minister which shows they want to drive political mileage out of the scheme and are depriving the depot holders of their income.’ Seems like this scheme will also go the health center way and cause issues in central funding to the state (SDW Vol. 2 Issue 1, Story 7).
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