Social work will get you Coldplay concert tickets

It's not just British rock band Coldplay that will be performing at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai on November 19, an equally impressive list of dignitaries and celebrities will be accompanying the band.

The Global Citizen creates awareness, and contributes to efforts to end poverty globally . The group, in collaboration with corporates and other artistes, has till date, raised billions of dollars to end poverty in Latin America and the Africas.

During his maiden visit to the United States after becoming the Prime Minister in 2014, Modi was invited on stage at a Global Citizen event at Central Park, New York, and the PM was deeply impressed with the group's initiative, said Maharashtra government officials. Modi was then said to have interacted with Martin and Hugh Evans, CEO of the Global Citizen Project, and invited them to hold such an event in India too. The first such concert was to be held in Delhi, but Poonam Mahajan, a BJP MP from Mumbai, then spoke to Martin and Evans and 'impressed' upon them the benefits of having it in Mumbai.

Keen to stage the concert in Mumbai, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis also had discussions and promised all support, and is personally looking into the project.

Talks are also on with celebrities such as Leonardo DiCaprio to come for the event. Amitabh Bachchan, the Khan trio - Shah Rukh, Aamir and Salman -and musician AR Rehman will also be part of the musical event.

TICKETS
While there has been considerable heartburn over the pricing of tickets - from Rs 25,000 to Rs 5 lakh -- the organisers and state government officials cleared the air by saying most tickets will be 'free'.

"Most of the tickets will be free, but in order to get the se free tickets, one has to perform social tasks supporting education, gender equality and sanitation. And the work would have to be validated by an NGO", a government official said.

"If we hold a programme that will help provide education and gender equality, not even 200 youths will turn up. But by giving free tickets for a concert, we are creating awareness and getting the job done as well," said the official, explaining the rationale behind the idea.

State government officials said a number of foreign and Indian corporates are being roped in for the project, which is expected to generate close to a billion dollars.