Union Minister of Education and Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Shri Dharmendra Pradhan launched Yuva Sangam portal in the gracious presence of Union Minister for Law & Justice Shri Kiren Rijiju; Union Minister for Culture, Tourism and DONER Shri G. Kishan Reddy, Union Minister for Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports and I&B, Shri Anurag Singh Thakur; Minister of State for Education, Dr. Subhas Sarkar and Minister of State for Education, Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh. Members of Parliament from the North-Eastern States also attended the event.
To strengthen people to people connect and build empathy between youth of the North Eastern States and other States, Ministry of Education, Government of India has conceptualized an initiative of ‘Yuva Sangam’ under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat in collaboration with various other ministries and departments such as Culture, Tourism, Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Youth Affairs & Sports, Home Affairs, Department for Development of North-East Region (DoNER) and IRCTC. Around 1000 youth will participate in the pilot of Yuva Sangam.
The Yuva Sangam will focus on conducting exposure tours of the youth comprising of students & off-campus youngsters from North Eastern States to other states & vice versa. It will provide an immersive, multidimensional experience of various facets-under four broad areas of Paryatan (Tourism), Parampara (Traditions), Pragati (Development) and Paraspar Sampark (People-to-people connect).
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Dharmendra Pradhan said that this is yet another initiative of the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi for cementing the bond between the north-east and rest of India.
Shri Pradhan said in line with the spirit of ‘Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat’, Yuva Sangam will strengthen people-to-people bonds, mainstream the vibrant culture of our north-eastern states and bring immense exposure and opportunities for knowledge exchanges, especially for our youth in the north-east.
Shri Pradhan further said that Yuva Sangam will celebrate India’s diversity, rejuvenate the spirit of oneness and highlight the strength of India’s democracy as envisioned by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. A unique initiative, Yuva Sangam will further strengthen the ‘Spirit of India’ in Amrit Kaal, he added.
The Minister invited the youth to come forward, register themselves and also provide suggestions for the Yuva Sangam.
While addressing the gathering Shri Rijiju said that the initiative of ‘Yuva Sangam’ will inculcate common spirit of understanding among thousands of youth participating in the program, which will resonate throughout the country and contribute immensely towards building a truly Shreshtha Bharat. He further said that said that in 2014, Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi envisioned a stronger and united India by launching several development projects and programs under the aegis of furthering the spirit of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.
Addressing the gathering Shri G. Kishan Reddy said to enable our youth to understand and identify with the diversity of India, YUVA Sangam tours are being organized for youth of different states, with an aim to promote a sense of respect towards each-others’ heritage, culture, customs, traditions to further the spirit of Shreshtha Bharat. Through the course of the program, students will interact with each other in the areas of language, literature, cuisine, festivals, cultural events and tourism. They will get a first hand experience of living in a completely different geographical and cultural scenario, he added.
Speaking on the occasion, Shri Thakur said that India is a unique nation, whose fabric has been woven by diverse linguistic, cultural, and religious threads, held together into a composite national identity. He stressed that under the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi various initiatives such as National Education Policy 2020, Khelo India, Fit India Movement, increased budget allocation etc have been taken to benefit the youth of the country. He further said that the idea of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat, a sustained and structured cultural connect among people of different regions was also mooted by Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi. These initiatives will empower youth to take India from Amrit Kaal to Swarnim Kaal, he added.
Secretary Higher Education, Shri K. Sanjay Murthy welcomed all the dignitaries and Prof. T G Sitharam, Chairman, AICTE proposed the vote of thanks. Chief Co-ordinating Officer of National Educational Alliance for Technology, AICTE, Dr. Buddha Chandrashekhar made the detailed presentation about the portal.
