Pravasi Bharatiya Divas: Grand welcome for Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at 9.50 am and was flown directly from the HAL Airport to the venue in a helicopter.
Bengaluru: A lot of preparation went into making the second day of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to address the Indian diaspora, special on Sunday.
Heavy security was in place and the sniffer dog from the Karnataka police department, ‘Icon’, made rounds of all areas, including the exhibition halls, at the Bengaluru International Exhibition Centre on Tumakuru Road.
“Icon has been trained for the last nine months and is very good at picking up scents of explosives. We took him around to check for bombs before the Prime Minister's arrival,” said a security staffer.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrived at 9.50 am and was flown directly from the HAL Airport to the venue in a helicopter.
Event poorly organised: Delegates
Delegates, exhibitors and even performing artistes complained about poor coordination and lapses by organisers at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas venue.
Though Prime Minister’s arrival created lots of excitement, but those who were supposed to man the stalls were not allowed due to security reasons. They spent a good part of the first half waiting outside the building.
A group of seven musicians of Kashmir-based Shah Musical Group were seen sitting on the ground outside the exhibition centre. “We were invited to perform and came all the way from Kashmir. But because of security, they are not letting us into our own stalls. We have heavy luggage due to our musical instruments. Why even call us here if this is how we are treated?”
Lack of alternative seating arrangements until exhibitors are allowed in, was one of the major drawback. Barricades put up to make the space for the Prime Minister to view the exhibits forced a host of NRIs, delegates, artistes and media persons to wait outside without any seating arrangements.
Some even had problems regarding refreshments. “By the time we got to the buffet, the food was over. We don’t even know where the water bottles are kept. They have organized it very poorly,” said Sanjib Sharma, a delegate from Assam.