Dehradun: Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan on Tuesday held a video conference with all District Magistrates from the Secretariat to review preparations for the Harela Festival and assess the progress of Cluster Schools across the state. He instructed all districts to prepare comprehensive action plans for the successful celebration of the festival.
The Chief Secretary said that Harela should be celebrated as a people’s festival, with active participation from schools, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), Nyaya Panchayats, Gram Panchayats, and local communities. He directed officials to organize large-scale awareness campaigns and public events to encourage maximum participation.
The meeting also reviewed the progress of Cluster Schools being developed across Uttarakhand. Bardhan instructed officials to expedite arrangements for transport facilities for students of primary and secondary schools, noting that the objective of cluster schools is to provide students with improved educational and support facilities within a single integrated campus.
He further directed officials to prioritize those cluster schools that can be completed within a short time frame. The Commissioners of the Garhwal and Kumaon divisions were instructed to conduct weekly reviews and ensure that transportation facilities are made available at the identified schools as early as possible.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary R. K. Sudhanshu, Secretaries Nitesh Kumar Jha, Ravinath Raman, Dr. V. Shanmugam, Chandresh Kumar Yadav, Vinod Kumar Suman, along with other senior officials and all District Magistrates.
