19th National Youth Festival in Guwahati

Guwahati: 19th National Youth Festival was began in Assam’s capital city Guwahati on Thursday.

The five day long grand event witnessed the participation of 2133 delegates from thirty-five States and Union territories of India, 443 participants of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), 500 National Service Scheme (NSS) participants, 173 Yuva Vikash Kendra (YVK) participants besides six foreign delegates totaling 3249 participants, officials said.

Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Minister of State (IC) Youth Affairs and Sports, Sarbananda Sonowal had inaugurated the festival.

“Today Guwahati has turned into a mini India. It has turned into a beautiful garden which is better than the Mughal garden,” Assam CM Tarun Gogoi said with inaugurates the festival at the Nehru Stadium, Guwahati.

Gogoi said that, the youth of our nation exemplifies vibrancy and energy is capable of showing the entire world that India can be the best amongst all the other nations.

He further added that in spite of so much diversity, the uniqueness of such variant cultures can be found nowhere else in the world except in India.

With the vision of upholding ‘Unity in Diversity’ and propagation of the concept of national integration, spirit of communal harmony, brotherhood, courage and adventure amongst the youth, the 19th National Youth Festival has been organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India in collaboration with the Directorate of Sports & Youth Welfare, Government of Assam began today with much fanfare and enthusiasm.

The theme for this year being, “Youth for Clean, Green & Progressive India”.

Speaking on the occasion Minister of State (IC) Youth Affairs and Sports, Sarbananda Sonowal said that Assam being the land of Mahapurush Srimanta Shankardev, Dr. Bhupen Hazarika, land of the biggest river island Majuli and the famous one horned rhinocerous besides other ethnic pluralities, would serve as a defining experience for all the participants gathered here.

Minister of State for Home Affairs, Governmnet of India, Kiren Rijiju defines ‘strength and energy’ as basic characteristics of youth which needs to be positively channelized.

On the occasion, former Lok Sabha Speaker Purno A. Sangma cited the difference between a rough stone found on hill top to that of one polished pebble in the river bed due to amalgamation of various extraneous forces of nature giving us the analogy as to how interaction of various cultures can shape our personalities into a pan Indian outlook.

Ajit Singh, State Minister of Sports & Youth Welfare, Government of Assam also provided valuable inputs by stating that such events will lead to future overall growth.

The welcome note of address was delivered by Chief Secretary of Assam, Jitesh Khosla while vote of thanks was given by Rajiv Gupta, Secretary of Youth Affairs, Government of India.

The five day long festival starting today will be holding various competitive and non-competitive events in several venues of Guwahati city and will culminate with the closing ceremony on January 12.

The first time in the history of North-East India this festival has been organized and hosted by Assam.

The participating States and Union Territories includes Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chattisgarh, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Daman and Diu, Delhi, Gujrat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Odisha, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, West Bengal and Assam.

By Hemanta Kumar Nath