Mhow (MP), February 22 Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced on Sunday that the popular Bhagoria festival in the state will be celebrated as a national festival.
The festival marks the beginning of the spring season. The traditional celebration, especially by the tribal community, attracts tourists from India and abroad.
Addressing a programme for the inauguration and foundation-laying of various projects worth Rs 85 crore at Mhowgaon in the Mhow assembly constituency, Yadav said that the area will get a 100-bed hospital.
The Mhowgaon local body will be upgraded from a nagar parishad to a municipality, he said.
The chief minister said that Madhya Pradesh is rapidly moving towards self-reliance through balanced development of rural and urban areas.
"We have made development the basis of nation-building and are taking the state forward with that resolve. The ongoing development projects will make the state a new center for education, tourism, and basic facilities in the coming time," he said.
Yadav also referred to the works being undertaken in honour of the tribal icon Tantya Mama and said that the Bhagoria festival will be celebrated as a national festival.
This year, the seven-day Bhagoria festival will be held from February 24 to March 2. The Bhil, Bhilala, and Barela tribes in districts like Alirajpur, Jabua, Barwani, Khargone, and Ratlam celebrate it.
He also inaugurated the Sandeepani Government Model Higher Secondary School, which was built at a cost of Rs 38 crore.
Yadav also unveiled the statue of Nanaji Deshmukh, a founding member of the Jan Sangh.
He said that Deshmukh was not just a politician but a great practitioner of social transformation who dedicated his life to rural development, education, and self-reliance.