Roorkee (The Hawk): Celebrating the Yuva Sangam-II, the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IIT Roorkee) is all set to welcome the youth from various districts of Uttarakhand who are going to visit Telangana under the Yuva Sangam-II program. This would provide Telangana with a unique opportunity to interact with the rural public of Uttarakhand and learn about their cultural practices, food, way of living, and customs. Yuva Sangam is an initiative of the Government of India under Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat, which focuses on conducting exposure tours of the youths comprising mainly students studying in Higher Educational institutions (HEIs) & some off-campus youths from one state to another state and vice versa. The students from Uttarakhand will visit various places in Telangana and will be acquainted with various facets of the state’s culture, tourism and development. It provides an immersive experience of numerous facets of life, development landmarks, recent achievements, and a youth connection in the host state. During their visits, the youth will have a multi-dimensional exposure under five broad areas – Paryatan (Tourism), Parampara (Traditions), Pragati (Development) and Paraspar Sampark (People-to-people connect), Prodyogik. (Technology).
The Uttarakhand team constitutes of 23 boys and 22 girls studying in various colleges and universities. The inauguration of the event was held at IIT Roorkee on 14th May 2023. The inaugural event was attended by Prof. K K Pant, Director, Prof. M K Barua, Dean of Student’s Welfare, Prof. M V Sunil Krishna Associate Dean of Student’s Welfare, among others. The event saw the welcoming of the Uttarakhand delegates and several cultural performances highlighting the state’s cultural heritage.
The Government of India, under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi conceptualized the Yuva Sangam-II program. He had envisioned ‘One India, Best India’; to make it come true, this special campaign is being run by the Ministry of Education, Government of India. The second phase started after the stupendous success of the first phase. On the occasion, Prof K K Pant, Director, IIT Roorkee, said, " This programme allows students from all walks of life to immerse themselves in different cultures around India and build a base for United India and Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat concept along with the promotion of culture and societal values among youths. It aims to provide young people with a platform for interacting with experts from various fields and learning about career opportunities, skill development, and entrepreneurship." Prof Mukesh Kumar Barua, Dean of Students' Welfare, IIT Roorkee, highlighted, "Yuva Sangam aims to develop skills and capabilities in leadership, communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving. As part of the programme, the youth are encouraged to cultivate a culture of innovation and expose them who embody talent, global knowledge, and creativity to cultural values that reflect the country’s humane philosophy."