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#Congregations India: 2021 Has a Lot for Event Managers - Punjab Minister Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi
by EVENTFAQS Bureau Industry Watch | January 7, 2021 | News
Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi Odisha Tourism Shubhra Bhardwaj Congregations India
During the session ‘Tourism, Sports, Culture and Youth - Shaping the Future with Live Events’ at the virtual ‘CONGREGATIONS INDIA: Government, Political, Sport & Religious EventsSummit’ organised by EVENTFAQs Media on December 24, Rana Gurmeet Singh Sodhi, Minister of Sports & Youth Services and NRI Affairs, Government of Punjab and Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi, Minister of Tourism, Odia Language, Literature & Culture, Government of Odisha were in conversation with Shubhra Bhardwaj, Founder and CEO, Ferriswheel Entertainment on the impact of the lockdown on youth, sports, culture and tourism. They shared their vision for unlocking the potential of each as we move beyond the pandemic.
Unlocking sports potential
Talking to the session co-curator and moderator Shubhra Bhardwaj on how he dealt with the impact of the lockdown on sports in Punjab, his vision to use sports as a means to protect the youth of Punjab and various measures that can be taken by the State and Central Governments to unlock the sports potential of India in 2021, Sodhi said, “Sports all over the world is affected by the pandemic due to which many leagues, tournaments as well as the Olympics were cancelled. The situation made it very difficult for us to save our sportsmen from the virus and we had to stop our practices too. We ensured our sportsmen were active and their muscles were moving as it would have been difficult for them to resume sports after the break otherwise. We promoted yoga and encouraged individual practice sessions. We are currently focusing on Olympics 2021 and have started the training process with all the necessary equipment and best coaches.”
Adding to this, Shubhra Bhardwaj said, “It’s a good perspective that if the sportsmen are retaining their health and their muscle build-up through individual sports, it makes them prepared for the larger sports scenario, with good health and immunity.”
Odisha Tourism opening up
Odisha opened to tourists in the month of September and Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi was actively involved in announcing several initiatives like Eco Retreat and Konark Festival that made headlines all over. Besides that, the Odisha Government is set to undertake measures to help sync investor and tourist interests, and create a conducive atmosphere for the growth of niche tourism offerings such as houseboat and cruise tourism, caravan and camping tourism, and arts and crafts tourism. “The Ministry did a backyard clean-up job for data and infrastructure during pandemic and opened with the Konark Dance festival to boost State tourism,” commented Panigrahi.
Operating sports events
On being asked about the scope of the events industry operating in tandem with the sports sector in 2021, Sodhi said, “I believe what we have suffered in 2020 will not continue in 2021 as we have now created certain protocols regarding COVID and also vaccination is on its way. Before the pandemic, a lot of events around sports used to be conducted in Punjab, and we are also planning to conduct a Youth Conference in Punjab. I think in 2021 marathons, conferences, matches, leagues and tournaments will return to normal and will generate a large work scope for event managers.”
Punjab is currently focusing on Olympics 2021 and has started the training process with all the necessary equipment and best coaches.