Grand Finale of the AKAM competitions in singing, essay writing, debating culminate at Srinagar, Jammu

Winners to get prize money of around Rs. 13 Lakhs

SRINAGAR : Under the directions of Lieutenant Governor, in a run up to the 75th Independence Day celebrations and as part of the ongoing Azadi Ka Amrit Mohatsav (AKAM), the Department of Culture, through J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages (AACL) conducted series of singing, essay-writing and debating competitions, across Jammu & Kashmir.

The events were organised by AACL in collaboration with higher education department as well as Directorate of School Education of both divisions.

The competitions were organized at the school, college, district and divisional levels with the help of Directorates of School Education and Director Colleges. The District level competitions were conducted at several Government schools and colleges, and the winners from these competitions jointly competed in the grand finale, at the respective divisional-levels, Jammu & Srinagar.

Over 120 students participated at the divisional level competitions, including six winners of the district level competition from every district, three each from the School and College level Competitions.

Namo Narayan of G.D.C. Reasi won the essay-writing competition in the Jammu Division, while as Ruksana Kousar of G.D.C. Bhaderwah was the runner-up in the Kashmir Division.

Similarly, Soliha Haneef of the R.P. School Mallabagh, Srinagar was the winner and Muzamil Ahmed Reshi of the H.S.S. Zainapora, Shopian came close second in essay writing competition.

In the singing competition, Poojan Kumar of HSS Doda was declared the winner and Shartik of the MAM College, Jammu was the runner-up in the Jammu Division. While as Owais Ashraf of GDC Killam, Kulgam won the singing competition in the Kashmir Division, with Mohsin Ashraf Khan of GDC Baramulla, was the runner-up.

Faiza Basharat of GDC Poonch bagged the first spot in the debating competition and Arush Kalsotra of the GHSS Jammu was the runner-up in Jammu Dvision.

In Kashmir Division, the winner was Khursheed Ahmad Shah of GDC Baramulla, and Rowhan Rafiq of GHSS Baramulla stood second.

In Jammu, the jury in the grand finale included Prof. Shalini Rana, Prof. Renu Nanda, and Dr Shahnaz Qadri for the essay-writing competition; Vijay Sambyal, Suraj Singh, and Anupama Sharma for the singing competition; and Abhimanyu Dev Singh Billwaria, Prof. Rajinder Kour, and Prof. Deepali Mahajan for the debate competition.

While in Kashmir, the jury comprised Prof. Naseem Shafayee, Dr Nazir Azad, and Dr Javaid Iqbal for essay-writing; Waheed Jeelani, Munir Ahmad Mir, and Imtiyaz Malik for the singing competition; and Prof. Shad Ramzan, Dr Afaq Aziz, and Dr Ghulam Nabi Haleem for the debate competition.

The winners of the Divisional Level Competitions shall be invited to the respective 75th I-Day ceremonies at Jammu and Srinagar. The monetary prizes, earmarked by the J&K Academy of Art, Culture & Languages, shall be given away to the winners by the concerned Deputy Commissioners for the District Level competitions and by the respective Divisional Commissioners for the Divisional Level Competitions.

Six winners at Divisional Level shall get a cash prize of Rs. 30,000/- each and six runner ups shall get a cash prize of Rs. 20,000/- each.

Likewise, six winners in every district (three from Schools and three from Colleges) shall get a cash prize of Rs. 5000/- each, while six runner ups in each district shall get a cash prize of Rs. 3000/- each.

The prize money of nearly Rs. 13.00 lakh shall be awarded to the winners and runner ups in total for different categories.