Fifty students, including faculty, from various higher education institutes and young professionals from Kerala departed for Ahmedabad, Gujarat on Tuesday, flagging off the second leg of the exchange programme, called Yuva Sangam, between the paired states.
Helmed by the Ministry of Education, and supported by various other ministries and departments, Yuva Sangam was piloted in 2022 under ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ – a flagship initiative of the Central government. EBSB seeks to foster people-to-people connection among Indians, promote mutual understanding and spark innovations through collaboration. Through various programmes, EBSB has successfully achieved its objectives, realising a key vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
As part of this programme, youth participate in a cultural exchange by which they receive exposure to their partner states under 5 broad areas – the 5 Ps viz; Paryatan (Tourism), Parampara (Traditions), Pragati (Development), Paraspar Sampark (People-to-people connect), and Prodyogiki (Technology).
The nodal institutes for this state pairing are IIT Gandhinagar, Gujarat and IIIT Kottayam, Kerala. Over the seven-day visit, the Kerala delegation will immerse itself in the local spirit of Gujarat. This reciprocal visit comes after delegates from Gujarat received warm hospitality from their Kerala hosts from 1st to 5th December.
As part of the itinerary, the delegates will visit major landmarks such as the Gandhi Ashram, Akshardham Temple, The Sun Temple at Modhera and the Statue of Unity. They will also interact with workers of various medium and small scale industries, including cooperatives run by women. The visit will be capped off by games, cultural activities, knowledge sessions and a local shopping experience.
Twenty eminent institutions across India have been identified for Phase V of Yuva Sangam during which participants from these states/ UTs, led by the nodal higher education institute (HEI) of the state/UT, respectively, will visit their paired state/ UTs. The previous phases of Yuva Sangam have witnessed massive enthusiasm with registrations crossing 44,000 in the last phase. Till date, 4,795 youth across India have participated in 114 tours in various phases of Yuva Sangam (including the pilot phase in 2022).