The 150th Gandhi Jayanti was celebrated by Khadi and Village Industries Commission, Goa on October 2 with two competitions namely ‘poster making’ and ‘essay writing’ held at Bal Bharti Vidyamandir. The event was planned and executed by Abhivyaktee “Panaji in collaboration with Bal bharati Vidyamandir, Ribandar.
A total of 60 students all in the age group of 13 to 15 from around Chimbel, Ribandar, Merces, Karmali and Khorlim areas participated in the contests. In the poster making competition, participants were divided into 15 teams of three each while essay was an individual event. Out of four topics mentioned in advance, one was picked for each competition. The topic for poster making was ‘Swacch Bharat’ while the topic for essay was ‘Khadi movement’. These were chosen to inculcate values of Gandhiji at such constructive age into the young minds. Posters were judged by Anagha Ninad Deshpande and Kranti Chari and essays were judged by Madhushri Pitre.
The prize winners were as follows: in essay writing competition, first place was awarded to Vinit Vaikunt Folkar, second place was bagged by Shreyas P Chavan and the third prize winner was Pritija Prashant Karmalkar. For poster making, the team comprising of Sairaj Khandeparkar, Pranav Pednekar and Anvesh Shirvoikar bagged the first place, Trupti Shirvoikar, Prajakta Naik, Mitali Shirodkar won the second place and third prize was given to Veena Shirodkar, Sania Bhomkar and Jeeya Kholkar.
Vinay Kumar, director, Khadi and Village Industries Commission, was present as the Chief Guest for the function who spoke about the importance of Gandhian values today. Headmistress of Bal Bharati Vidya Mandir, Appolonia Fernandes was present as the guest of honour and encouraged the students. A street play was also presented on the occasion by members of Abhivyaktee on ‘Life Principles of Gandhiji’. Prizes and certificates were awarded at the hands of Vinay Kumar, Appolonia Fernandes, Sandeep Deshpande and R Kesavan.
