‘Youth of the North East have a great responsibility’

Tuli: Union Minister for Youth Affairs & Sports, Sarbananda Sonowal Wednesday said that the youths of the North East region have a great responsibility on their shoulders in the nation building process and added that the Government of India is keen on skill as well as personality development of the younger generation.

Speaking as the Chief Guest on the second day of the ongoing 31st General Conference cum Sports Meet of the Langpangkong Students’ Union (LKM) at Tuli town, the Union Minister highlighted some of the flagship programmes initiated by the Prime Minister.

“Digital India, Skill India and Make in India, the flagship schemes initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will be the greatest turnaround in history of India,” claimed Sonowal. He also highlighted the National Young Leaders Programme (NYLP) launched by the government in 2014. He said that the NYLP, which is a central sector scheme, has been designed in tune with the promises made to the people.

He said that the scheme has five programme components namely: Neighbourhood Youth Parliament (NYP), Youth for Development Programme (YDP), National Youth Advisory Council (NYAC), and National Youth Development Fund (NYDF).

“The purpose and objective of the scheme is to develop leadership qualities in the youth to realize their full potential, to motivate the youths to strive for excellence in their respective fields, to bring them to the forefront of the development process and to harness the immense youth energy for nation building,” said the Union Minister.

In this connection, Sonowal urged the youths to organize youth parliaments in Nagaland so that development and other issues can be tackled from the grassroot or village level. While quoting Swami Vivekananda, Sonowal said that ‘all power is within you. You (youths) can do anything and everything. Believe in that; do not believe that you are weak. Stand up and express the divinity within you’.

In this regard, Sonowal said that youths represent the most dynamic segment of the population and are the future of the nation, Morung Express News reported.

“India is one of the youngest nations in the world and is expected to have a very favorable demographic profile in the time to come,” he said.

While stating that Indian youth in the age group 15-29 constitute 27.5 percent of the population, Sonowal said that this demographic dividend offers a great opportunity and the challenge before the nation to develop and empower its youth population as a productive work force.

Also encouraging the young people to take up sports seriously, Sonowal maintained that “sports is a way of life, apart from being just a medium of fun, also imparts life skills that come in handy throughout the journey of life.”

“It (sports) is a way of bringing everyone together towards a common goal. We must respect this level of union. We must use sports as a channel to bring about unanimous approach towards national pride and loyalty,” he said.

A host of dignitaries from the Nagaland State Government, including Parliamentary Secretary for Industries & Commerce, Amenba Yaden also attended the programme.

The function was chaired by former NSF President, Tongpang Ozukum; while LKM President, Taliyanger Jamir delivered the presidential address.

More than 2000 delegates from nineteen villages under Langpangkong range are participating in the four day conference which commenced on Tuesday evening. The programme will conclude on Thursday, January 15 with Parliamentary Secretary for Veterinary & Animal Husbandry, S Chuba Longkumer as the guest of honor. The conference is being held on the theme ‘Resilient foundation’.