NIZAMABAD: Commissioner of Information and Public Relations, C. Parthasarathi, said that 32 plays and playlets will be staged during the week-long State level Nandi Natakotsavalu beginning here on January 18.

Of them, 10 are social plays, 10 "poetic plays" (pouranikalu) and 12 social playlets. They have been selected from a total of 202 entries which have been received for the State sponsored drama festival. The scrutiny committee has chosen them after verifying every play with utmost care. Disclosing details of the mega cultural event, he said the Government had decided to organise the Nandi Natakotsavalu outside the capital to give impetus to the artistes and "nataka samajalu".

Another idea behind organising the drama festival outside Hyderabad was to provide basic infrastructure for the conduct of cultural festivals in future. "Required infrastructure has come up wherever we conducted the Nandi Natakotsavalu outside Hyderabad," he pointed out. The best plays would be selected in each of the three categories by the jury and the best and the second best dramas would be given cash awards.

In all, cash awards worth about Rs.7.58 lakhs would be given away, he said. The Commissioner also said that the NTR Rangasthala Award would be conferred on a person who had rendered yeoman service to the field of drama in the State. The award would carry a cash prize of Rs.50,000 and a citation. A specially constituted jury would select the awardee, he said.

Nizamabad Collector I.S. Sri Naresh said the Rajiv Auditorium, venue of the cultural fete, was being given a facelift. Seating arrangements, sound system and lighting were being improved upon spending an amount of Rs.30 lakhs. The artistes coming for the event would be provided with accommodation, boarding, transportation and rehearsal facility, he said.

A direct telecast facility would be arranged with the help of local channels and LCDs would be set up one each at Archaeological Museum and Ambedkar Auditorium, he said. The Joint Collector, G. Ramnarayana Reddy, the Velugu PD P. Chinatataiah, District Revenue Officer C. Sreeram Reddy and Kismath Kumar, Director Information and Public Relations, attended.

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