Govt schemes take centrestage at Magh Mela, attract 17L visitors

Prayagraj: The Magh Mela has been a huge success, not only attracting over 22 crore devotees for holy dips in the Ganga, but also serving as a platform to spread awareness about govt schemes. This year, over 13 state and central govt departments have set up camps and exhibitions, recording a footfall of over 17 lakh visitors.Among the exhibitions and awareness camps set up by the central and state govts in the mela area, the khadi department's exhibition and stalls recorded the highest footfall of over 9 lakh people.
Jawahar Lal Yadav, in-charge of the Uttar Pradesh Divisional Khadi and Village Industries Exhibition at Parade Ground, said that more than 510 stalls from over 350 institutions from nine states were set up in the complex to promote Khadi. Around 35,000 to 40,000 people visited the complex daily. Since its opening on Jan 10, over 8.40 lakh people visited the exhibition complex.There was a separate awareness camp to promote khadi and swadeshi by the central govt at the Parade Ground. Camp in-charge KD Mishra said that more than 55 khadi stalls from 7 states were set up at their venue. These included 38 institutions affiliated with the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC). The exhibition, organised by the Central Khadi and Village Industries Commission, which began on Jan 19, was visited by more than 81,000 people till Feb 1.The Virat Kisan Mela (Grand Farmers' Fair), held from Feb 5 to Feb 9, also saw a large gathering of farmers. More than 24,000 farmers registered their presence there. Notably, four tourism information centres set up by the tourism department also recorded 3.46 lakh visitors between Jan 3 and Feb 4.