First Youth20 Inception Meeting 2023 begins in Guwahati

Briefing the media ahead of the meeting  Meeta Rajivlochan, Secretary, Ministry of Youth Affairs informed that Youth20 deliberations hope to reach out to youth and consult with them for their ideas for a better tomorrow.

Rajivlochan highlighted the Five themes of Y20  that is to be discussed in the three day event, which are, Future of Work: Industry 4.0, Innovation and 21st century; Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: Making Sustainability as a Way of Life; Peace Building and Reconciliation: Ushering in an Era of No War; Shared Future: Youth in Democracy and Governance; Health, Wellbeing & Sports: Agenda for Youth.

"Each theme resonates with people in different parts of the country and each region has their own visions on these themes and that is the reason for spreading out the consultation across the country," she said.

Rajivlochan also informed that Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Singh Thakur will hold a 'Youth dialogue' with Y20 delegates followed by the launch of white paper on various themes on 8th February.

Talking about the panel discussions to be held in IIT Guwahati on 7th February she said that noted speakers will be discussing  on a very relevant topic to Northeast which is Peace building and Reconciliation.

She said that as there is a history of insurgency in North east and this theme is very relevant to the people of Assam and entire North East. 

At the panel discussion two surrendered insurgents of ULFA and NDFB will also participate in the panel discussion.

Speaking to  the media Kalyan Chakravarthy, Principal Secretary of Government of Assam informed that the state government along with Ministry of Youth Affairs had taken up several initiatives to make the youth  aware about Y20 and involve them in the process of nation building.

He said that around 36 educational institutes of Assam participated in the Seminar, debate, workshops, quiz competitions organised on the 5 themes of Y20.

He further informed that around 4000 schools participated in the Y20 activities.
Prof. Parameswar K Iyer, Director, IIT Guwahati said  that it is a matter of pride that IIT Guwahati is hosting the Technical sessions and deliberations of the Y20 events.

He asserted that IIT Guwahati is a major research centre for frontier technologies like production of green hydrogen; some of these technologies are in the process of transfer to industry. He further informed that key panel discussions on the future of work, twenty first century skills, climate change, making sustainability a way of life and also on peace building and reconciliation will be held at IIT Guwahati.

Talking about the  Y20 awareness activities held in various parts of the state, B Narayanan, Director General,  NE Zone, Ministry of I & B informed that PIB Guwahati in association with Education Department, Government of Assam trained around 50 students across Assam on reporting, documentation and mobile photography. Appreciating the efforts of the students Narayanan informed that out of those 50 students trained, 9 students have been listed for felicitation by Press Information Bureau for their outstanding performance.

This is to be mentioned that Chief Minister of Assam, Himanta Biswa Sharma will also present research papers from students and academicians of Assam.

In addition to this, Technical sessions and deliberations will be hosted at IIT Guwahati. Prominent speakers include Gen. VK Singh, GP Singh, Tejasvi Surya etc. Further, an Ice breaking session will be held with Y20 delegates at Brahmaputra Sandbar island.

Started in 2012, the Y20 is the youth version of the G-20 Summits and it is the only officially recognized platform for young people to engage with the G-20 it is one of the most influential international diplomatic forums for young leaders.

It is also one of eight official engagement groups under the G-20 umbrella.

This is the first meeting of the 17 meetings which will be held all across the country culminating to the Youth20 Summit in August.

(Reporting by Hemanta Kumar Nath)