New Delhi: Chief minister Rekha Gupta on Tuesday announced the launch of ‘Hauslon ki Udaan’ (flight of aspirations), an ambitious initiative aimed at discovering, nurturing and promoting the creative talent of the city’s youth at the national and international levels.The scheme was approved by Delhi Cabinet during a meeting attended by all ministers, the chief secretary and senior officials. A budget of Rs 5 crore was allocated for its implementation in the current financial year.CM said that the blueprint of the initiative was carefully designed to ensure the participation of youth across the city, enabling them to gain recognition and enhance the reputation of the national capital. She added that the scheme was announced during her budget speech in Delhi Assembly and will now be rolled out with the cabinet’s approval. The department of art, culture and languages will serve as the nodal department for its implementation.The initiative, said arts and culture minister Kapil Mishra, is designed to provide young people with a platform to refine and showcase their artistic abilities, giving them a distinctive identity while bringing recognition to the national capital. “Delhi is rich in creative abilities, such as music, dance, poetry, visual and digital art, but many young people lack the opportunity to present their skills due to limited access to platforms. ‘Hauslon ki Udaan’ (flight of aspirations) will focus on identifying and nurturing talent among youth living in slums, informal settlements and unauthorised colonies,” he added.Under the initiative, talent hunt programmes will be held in all assembly constituencies, followed by zonal and district-level competitions, culminating in a grand state-level finale. The scheme will focus on six art forms — singing, dance, poetry, sculpture, visual art, digital art and theatre.Mishra said the programme aims to connect nearly five million young people across Delhi. The talent hunt will be organised over a six-month period, with winners receiving cash prizes. Delhi govt will also engage renowned artists from across the country as mentors to guide and prepare the selected participants, enabling them to achieve recognition on international platforms.“The competitions will be held over a span of six months, with the first event kicking off in Sept. Winners at the state level will be awarded the CM cup, along with prize money. We will rope in artists from different fields to mentor the winners of the competition,” said an official.“Such competitions are held by private organisations, but this is probably the first time in the country that the state govt is holding such a competition,” he claimed.