Ananth for Bharatiya millennium festivities

NEW DELHI, NOV 12: Minister for Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports Ananth Kumar laid down his agenda in no uncertain terms on Wednesday wh...

NEW DELHI, NOV 12: Minister for Culture, Youth Affairs and Sports Ananth Kumar laid down his agenda in no uncertain terms on Wednesday when he said his department would be celebrating the 100th birth anniversary of the founder of the Jan Sangh, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the 8220;first voice of opposition in the country8221;. 8220;He was a great patriot, he saved Kashmir, he was also Union minister for industries.8221;

His department will also be celebrating the 125th anniversary of the national song, Vande Mataram, this year, and the 125th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel next year. Along with this, Ananth Kumar has also promised 8220;action8221; on the Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts and a Bill in the winter session of Parliament to 8220;correct the anomalies8221; read, remove the Nehru-Gandhi members and loyalists in the Jallianwala Bagh Trust. He also talked of celebrating the millennium in a bharatiya way with a march by young people on December 31 from a freedom fighters8217; statue in each district and notjust 8220;bursting champagne corks as people will do in big cities8221;.

At his first press conference since becoming a minister for the second time, albeit with what was considered a reduced portfolio 8220;I used to do Lakshmi aradhana in Civil Aviation, here it will be Saraswati aradhana8221;, he also indicated he was going full steam ahead with Uma Bharati8217;s pet project, the National Reconstruction Corps, which will be started in 8220;all districts8221; of the country with 5,000 volunteers. He said the NRC would be implemented by the Nehru Yuvak Kendra and would impart citizenship qualities: patriotism, dignity of labour, discipline, social concern and fearlessness. 8220;This is nowhere in our curriculum,8221; he said, adding that only one crore of the youth in India are actually in the higher education net. He also talked of a new youth policy which would concentrate on personality development.

Ananth Kumar also announced a national census of sports people. 8220;We have about one lakh sports people for whom we have to providejob opportunities,8221; he said. He gave a 100-day deadline to himself for this. He also announced a Bill in the winter session of Parliament which would make physical education compulsory in school. He talked of broadbasing the sports policy in the country and getting at least 8220;two golds and a lot of other medals8221; at the Sydney Olympics.

He said Republic 50 next year would be a mega-event and would be celebrated with a series of seminars and symposia on judicial, administrative, constitutional and electoral reforms. 8220;We need a national debate and a national consensus on this to have a pro-people approach,8221; he said.