The daughter of a poor labourer from Kawa village of Udhampur district in Jammu and Kashmir has bagged the first prize in the Solo Vocal Music Category at the National Level Kala Utsav Competition held in Bhopal.
Khushi, a student of Class X in the Government High School, Kawa, qualified for the national competition after her victories at the district, provincial and the UT level competitions. At the national competition, she sang the folk song 'Himachali', which was highly appreciated by the audience and it also ensured her victory.
Speaking to ANI, Khushi said: "Through the 'Samagra scheme', initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, I was able to reach the national competition. If the scheme had not existed, I would not have performed in the competition."
She further said that there were thousands of talented girls like her in the villages.
"My talent came out through the support of my teachers. The message I want to convey is that all girls should be allowed to come forward and show their talent, and the parents should support their daughters in this move," said Khushi.
Saguna Khajuria, In-charge, Cultural Cell, Udhampur, said: "There is no doubt that Khushi is a very unique child. The Kala Utsav platform was started in 2015, and even last year, one of our children had qualified for the programme."
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Khajuria further expressed happiness at Khushi's win, stating that she had a lot of talent, considering the fact that she won a national level competition without any professional training.
"She had won in the zonal, district, division and state levels, and has finally won at the national level. She belongs to a poor family, but her passion for singing and dancing has helped her win," she said.
Khushi's father Banke Bihari also expressed happiness at her win, stating that if the government had not extended help through the Samagra scheme, she would have never been able to reach this level.
"This is a good opportunity for students, and more and more girls should participate in such events," he said.
The competition was organised by the Ministry for Human Resource Development (MHRD) and the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT) at Bhopal. It commenced on January 2 and concluded on January 5.