Thousands of students participated in the colorful musical cultural programme – Nest. FEST 2018, organized by My Home India (MHI) as it’s annual event to welcome the fresher students of northeastern region living in and around Delhi.
This year’s programme was organized at the Talkotara stadium in New Delhi on Saturday which coincided with the birth anniversary of Dr Bhupen Hazarika, legendary singer, musician and composer from Assam.
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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh inaugurated the fest in presence of Dr Harsh Vardan, Union Minister for Science and Technology, Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, MoS Civil Aviation Dr Jayanta Sinha, Secretary North Eastern Council Ram Muivah, founder of MHI and National Secretary BJP Sunil Deodhar and former football captain of India Bhaichung Bhutia.
The programme started with traditional felicitation of the guests in northeastern manner by Sunil Deodhar, founder of My Home India, who on the occasion welcomed the gathering and praised the Union Home Minister for bringing peace to the once turbulent northeastern region of the country.
Deodhar also lauded Tripura Chief Minister Deb and viewed that the State would see transformation under his able leadership.
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Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh while addressing the gathering said, “Northeast is the heart of India and without its development the all-round development of India is not possible.”
He recalled former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpaye and said that it was only during Vajpaye’s tenure that a separate Ministry DoNER, dedicated for the development of the NE region, was formed.
Singh also viewed that after Vajpayee, the present Prime Minister Narendra Modi, under his Act East Policy has prioritized for the development of the eight northeastern States, and which he declared as ‘Asta Laxmi’.
Mentioning names of few sports personalities like Hima Das, Dipa Karmakar and few others, the Union Home Minister said that the northeastern region is “full of multi-talents” which need to be explored.
Praising the role of MHI for its various activities in nation building through various programs including Saturday’s colorful fest, the Union Home Minister assured the students of the northeastern region against any kind problems and for which his door shall always remain open, an MHI press communique stated.
Speaking on the occasion, Tripura Chief Minister Deb praised the role of MHI for its various social services especially for the people of the Northeastern region.
The MoS for Civil Aviation Dr Jayanta Sinha said that the present Government at the Centre has emphasised on better infrastructure and connectivity of the northeastern region, which are basics and necessary for the development.
He also informed about the coming up of various new airports and resuming of services in old airports in the NE region besides the UDAN project which aims at air connecting all NE States to other States of India.
Former footballer Baichung Bhutia, who hails from Sikkim, thanked MHI founder Sunil Deodhar and his team for their continuous support towards the people of the NE region and asked the students present to approach MHI in case they face any kind of problem.
The second part of the programme started with the dance and songs , highlighting the rich cultural diversity of various tribes of NE region.
More than fifteen cultural troupes performed various dances of NE region including Assam’s Bihu dance, Hazagiri of Tripura, Wangala of Meghalaya, Rai Haraba of Manipur and Cheru of Mizoram and mesmerized the huge gathering.
Besides star performer Zubeen Garg, former India Idol Surabhi Debbarma and Nagaland’s renowned band Alobo Naga also performed in the programme, which is the biggest of its kind here organized by My Home India.