Ladakh Festival 2023 off to colourful start as Hon’ble Lt Governor Brig (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd) inaugurates four-day Festival.

Leh, Sept 21, 2023: The Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of Ladakh, Brigadier (Dr) BD Mishra (Retd) inaugurated the four-day Ladakh Festival 2023 at Polo Ground in Leh.
Terming Ladakh Festival as a moment to celebrate the rich cultural diversity of Ladakh and auspicious for Ladakh, the HLG stated that the Festival must be promoted and taken forward. Stated that around five lakh tourists visited Ladakh last year as the region has emerged as a top tourist destination, the HLG informed about his discussion with the concerned Ministers to promote Ladakh as an attractive tourist destination as its landscape, flora/fauna and culture is distinct from other states of India. He also stated that requesting the Hon’ble Minister of External Affairs would result in quality tourism for Ladakh and the influx of tourists from developed countries will eventually benefit the stakeholders/ citizens of Ladakh engaged in tourism activities.
The HLG stated that the Administration would send a team comprising boys and girls to different states and union territories to showcase Ladakh’s rich culture and heritage on Ladakh’s Foundation Day on October 31. He also stated that showcasing Ladakh’s diverse culture in different states/UTs will help in promoting Ladakh as a top tourist destination among domestic tourists. He also informed about the proposed visit of the Hon’ble President of India to Ladakh and the plan to invite her to the Ladakh Foundation Day celebrations on October 31.
The HLG informed about the initiatives taken by the UT Administration to provide rice at a subsidised rate under the public distribution system (PDS) scheme; efforts being made to prepare Recruitment Rules for gazetted posts for their early submission to UPSC; the declaration of results of Staff Selection Commission Selection Posts/Ladakh 2022 following the verdict given by the Hon’ble Supreme Court; efforts being made to reduce the mortality of pashmina goats and their kids by providing them with winter-friendly pens, adequate fodder and milk replacer, medicines along with providing good rate for the meat of the cattle for the benefit of the farmers; providing polo training to girls from Leh and Kargil from the President’s Body Guard; the early saturation of the Jal Jeevan Mission scheme in Ladakh to provide drinking water to all the rural households; connecting remaining villages with Northern Grid to provide regular power supply; the saturation of BSNL’s 4G mobile services in uncovered villages of Ladakh at the earliest; the rationalisation of the boundaries of the Changthang/Karakoram Wildlife Sanctuaries; the establishment of Medical College, Engineering College, Government Degree College at Sankoo and the Sindhu Central University in Ladakh for the benefit of the local youth and the implementation of various central government schemes and developmental activities to make Ladakh one of the top union territories in the country.
The HLG reiterated the motto to make Ladakh a Corruption and Delay-Free union territory and sought cooperation from the citizens of Ladakh to realise the goals.
Chairman, LAHDC Leh, Advocate Tashi Gyalson, stated that the objective of Ladakh Festival is to provide a single platform to showcase the region’s rich cultural diversity to tourists who don’t get time to explore all parts of Ladakh. He also stated that the Ladakh Festival could not reach the desired level when it was initially conceptualised and instructed the concerned officials from the Tourism Department to promote it on a large scale across the country. He also highlighted the need for equitable distribution of tourists/tourism activities in every village of Ladakh so that everybody avails its benefits.
Shri Gyalson also informed about various initiatives taken by LAHDC Leh and informed about the plan to declare September as the month of Festivals by declaring the month as a Carnival of Festivals.
Executive Councillor, LAHDC Leh, Shri Ghulam Mehdi welcomed the guests while Director, Tourism, Smt Kunzes Angmo, gave the vote of thanks.
Artists/villagers from different villages showcased various cultural performances on the occasion, Earlier, people from different villages/officials took part in the cultural procession from Karzoo to Polo Ground in which they displayed the diverse cultures of Ladakh.