Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports interacts with Y20 delegates in ‘Youth Dialogue with Youth Minister’

The youth delegates welcomed the morning with the musical chirps of the birds and embraced the inner self with the morning Yoga class and long walks in the IIT campus spread over 700 acres.

After the musically stimulating ice breaking session at the Brahmaputra Sandbar river island the day before, the youth was all set to engage in the day long sessions on the five themes of Y20 with the eminent speakers and experts.

The Union Minister of Sports, Youth Affairs and Information and Broadcasting, Anurag Singh Thakur in the session ‘Youth Dialogue with Youth Minister '' stated that the Y20 India Summit would exemplify the youth-centric efforts and showcase policy measures ideated by the youth.

He stated that the demographic dividend of India is uniquely poised to usher in an era of rapid social, economic, environmental and technological innovation and advancement.

While remarking at the opportunities for youth in the Amrit Kaal of Indian democracy, the Minister stated that Amrit Kaal is Adhigam Kaal - an era of to leap forward, Awsar Kaal - an era of opportunities and Kartavya Kaal - an era of duty to the nation.

On the Second Day of the Inception Meeting at IIT Guwahati, the Secretary of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth & Sports Affairs, Meeta Rajivlochan delivered the welcome address.

The Secretary emphasized that the key themes of G20 Presidency "One Earth, One Family, One Future" is very important and affects all of us in multiple ways and Y20 aims to develop the ability of any country to adopt constructive policy that would determine their ability to build a good future for a good, inclusive, happy and prosperous society.

Following Panel discussions with eminent speakers and leaders were held over the course of the second day:-

Theme 1: Peace-building and Reconciliation: Ushering in an Era of No War

The Panel consisted of Gen V K Singh (Retd), MoS, Government of India; Tejasvi Surya, MP; Lt. Gen. Satish Dua (Retd), Indian Army ; Gyanendra Pratap Singh, IPS, DGP, Govt of Assam; Hiren Chandra Nath, IPS, ADGP(STF/SB), Assam; Bipul Kalita, Surrendered Insurgent and Binal Warry, Surrendered Insurgent which was moderated by Kanchan Gupta, Senior Adviser, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting.

The panelists discussed the role played by India in building and keeping peace at the global stage since the beginning. Gen VK Singh in his opening remarks commented that the idea of war and peace affects the youth of any nation the most.

He said that “In India, we talk to militants. We use force only as a last resort. This is how we are able to resolve various conflicts that happen again and again.”

Tejasvi Surya emphasized that India has successfully managed its diversities by understanding that unity is not uniformity and diversity is not discrimination. General Satish Dua emphasized the role of armies in keeping peace and not waging wars. He said that India has consistently had the highest presence in UN peacekeeping forces.

GP Singh while sharing his experience in fighting insurgency in Assam and the neighboring states said that the understanding that insurgency at its root is a different or parallel aspiration of a section of people, was a watershed moment in defining the strategies for dealing with insurgency. This was reinforced in the remarks of Bipul Kalita (formerly ULFA, surrendered insurgent) who stated that the goal of freedom or separation was towards a wrong goal. The engagement by the Government has improved substantially in the past 10 years.

He stated that “The distance that Assam had with Delhi at that time and now the distance we have, in terms of socio-economic, political and cultural relations, it has transformed completely with time. Witnessing the current development in the State in the fields like infrastructure, education and health sectors, we realised that the dream of independent Assam was wrong. Realising the true meaning of development of the nation, we started to devote ourselves through social services and have opened an NGO. From 2016, inspired by the Swachh Bharat Mission, I am engaged with the NGO and helping transform others lives too.”

Theme 2: The Second technical session-Future of Work: Industry 4.0, Innovation, & 21st Century Skills

The panel comprised of Dr. GD Dhanuka, Industrialist; D. Uma Maheshwar,  Chief Consulting  Engineer at GE Aviation Prem Kumar, Founder and Chief Innovator  at Marut Dronetech and Dr. P. Muthukumar, Professor at IIT, Tirupati Hydrogen Energy Lab.

The session was moderated by Dr. Rakhi Chaturvedi, Professor & Head, Department of Biosciences & Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati. Prem Kumar in his address displayed the multipurpose use of drone technology in the field of agriculture, goods delivery etc.

Dr Uma Maheshwar, Chief Consulting Engineer at GE Aviation spoke about how Industry 4.0 is revolutionizing work and that new technologies are disruptive but the change is for the better.

Themes 3: Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: Making Sustainability a Way of Life

The panel comprised of Dr Shilpi Kushwaha, Scientist; Purnima Devi Burman, Founder of the Hargila Army; Rituraj Phukan, Social Entrepreneur, Dr. Akshai Kumar AS, Professor, IIT Guwahati and Dr. Prateek Kanakia, Entrepreneur had a threadbare discussion on climate change and the strategy to maintain biodiversity by community participation. The session was moderated by Anamika Barua, Professor, IIT Guwahati.

Theme 4: Shared Future: Youth in Democracy and Governance

The panel comprised of Mita Nath Bora, Member of Assam Youth Commission; Ankur Jyoti Bhuyan, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Kumar Bhaskar Varma Sanskrit and Ancient Studies University, Dr. Vikas Tripathi, Assistant Professor, Department of Political Science, Gauhati University and Abhinav Prakash, Assistant Professor, University of Delhi, which was moderated by Prof. Pahi Saikia, Associate Professor (Political Science), IIT Guwahati.

The discussion was held on how youth can contribute towards the development of a nation. The panelist emphasized that as India presided over G20 in 2023, the idea of prioritizing human centric development and translating the world into one family that aspires to the idea of universal brotherhood, needs to be universally adopted. The panelists also pointed out the different dimensions of Atmanirbhar Bharat, and emphasized that, "Youth is the buckle that joins innovation and development together and the ecosystem of Atmanirbhar Bharat is leading to innovation where the youth are participating in full force."

Theme 5: Health, Wellbeing & Sports: Agenda for Youth

The panel comprised of Laishram Sarita Devi, Sportsperson, Dr. Asheema Haobijam, Senior Doctor, Shreyasi Singh, MLA and Dr. Ujjval Maske, HoD, Yogic Science & Naturopathy, Mahapurush Srimanta Sankardeva University, Guwahati. Dr. Bithiah Grace Jaganathan, Professor, Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati moderated the session.

The panelists discussed topics covering mental well being, the role of sports in promoting mental well beings and how traditional Indian medicine can help the holistic wellbeing of the youth. Sports promote and help in a nation's growth through individual growth and great initiatives like Khelo India have been launched by the government to promote the enthusiasm for sports among the youth.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)