Chief Secretary Anand Bardhan held a meeting with District Magistrates at the Secretariat on Tuesday regarding the ‘One District, One Festival’ initiative and the promotion of exports for local products. He directed every district to develop its own unique festival or fair under the ‘One District, One Festival’ scheme and to prepare an annual calendar for it.
The Chief Secretary emphasized the need to brand events—such as Chamoli’s ‘Ramman’, Uttarkashi’s ‘Butter Festival’, and the winter carnivals in Haridwar, Nainital, and Mussoorie—on a large scale to secure global recognition for them. He stated that these fairs should be ‘institutionalized’ and that members of the diaspora should also be involved in them.
Instructions were issued to constitute a standing committee, chaired by the Principal Secretary (Planning) and comprising the Secretaries of Industries, Forest, and AYUSH, to oversee export promotion. Furthermore, emphasis was placed on developing the Unique Selling Proposition (USP) for GI-tagged products and ensuring their reach into national and international markets through improved processing, packaging, and marketing.
