kochi keralotsavam the cultural and sports event aimed at promoting young talent was marked by the absence of youngsters when the districtlevel competitions were held at kakkanad on thursday the youth were not to be seen anywhere they were neither participants nor spectators in spite of the claims by the district panchayat authorities that the event is becoming a hit among youngsters keralotsavam is an annual event organized jointly by the state youth welfare board and local bodies the district panchayat is spending about rs 5 lakh for the threeday event district panchayat secretary m s abdul kalam claimed about 4000 people took part in the event every year the participants come for the districtlevel meet after tough competitions in their respective taluks and municipalities even though the number of participants is increasing every year it fails to attract spectators the secretary said the event is losing out on spectators thanks to the indifferent attitude of the local authorities the panchayat authorities conduct the event as a ritual to avoid criticism from the media and the public district panchayat member t g asokan said meanwhile the participants who came for the event in the district panchayat complex on thursday said the authorities were wasting money on the programme when keralotsavam was conducted in our panchayat very few people participated in it we came here just because our panchayat president forced us to take part in it said muhammad shafeek a participant from maradu municipality meanwhile the panchayat is conducting 38 events as part of keralotsavam including classical dances music fine arts literary events and group performances