The Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, today commenced the first day of its two-day Chintan Shivir at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shillong, bringing together officers of the Department, MY Bharat and National Service Scheme (NSS) for deliberations on strengthening youth engagement, improving programme delivery and advancing the vision of Viksit Bharat through youth-led development.

The inaugural session was attended by Union Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports Smt. Raksha Nikhil Khadse, Minister of Sports & Youth Affairs, Government of Meghalaya, Shri. Wailadmiki Shylla, Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Dr. Pallavi Jain Govil, Additional Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Shri Nitesh Kumar Mishra, Chief Executive Officer, MY Bharat, Dr. Priyanka Shukla, along with senior officers of the Department, MY Bharat, NSS, Regional Directors, District Youth Officers and Youth Officers from across the country.

Addressing the gathering, Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya said, "Today, with 2.17 crore youth volunteers, MY Bharat has emerged as a national movement of Jan Bhagidari. Our goal is to take MY Bharat to every district, every block, and every young citizen to ensure true last-mile connectivity."

The Minister emphasized that National Youth Volunteers should emerge as community leaders and youth mobilisers at the grassroots level. He underlined the critical role played by District Youth Officers and NSS Officers in strengthening the youth development ecosystem and stressed the need to measure success through tangible impact and outcomes.

He also called for large-scale youth participation in the nationwide anti-drug campaign from June 26 to August 15, announced programmes in 150 educational institutions to commemorate 150 years of Vande Mataram, and reiterated the Ministry's commitment to establishing MY Bharat Centres in all 783 districts. Highlighting the importance of collaborative learning, he urged states to share best practices and called for greater integration of youth from the Northeast into national development initiatives.

Minister of State for Youth Affairs & Sports Smt. Raksha Nikhil Khadse said, "The objective of this Chintan Shivir is to bring officers together to share ideas, best practices and field-level experiences so that we can collectively work towards the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 through the power of our youth."

Referring to the Northeast, she highlighted the region's vibrant sports culture and active youth club network and stressed the need to effectively channelise the talent and energy of its youth. The Minister also underlined the importance of strengthening coordination with state governments and district administrations, noting that addressing communication gaps would be critical for effective implementation of programmes and wider outreach of the MY Bharat Portal.

Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Dr. Pallavi Jain Govil said, "The main objective of this Chintan Shivir is to identify challenges, share experiences and generate actionable ideas that can be effectively implemented on the ground."

She noted that the first two editions of the Chintan Shivir had yielded valuable learnings and outcomes. She also encouraged participants to share best practices and innovative approaches that could be replicated across states and programmes.

Additional Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Shri Nitesh Kumar Mishra said, "The Chintan Shivir is a platform for collective deliberation where officers can contribute ideas as stakeholders and help shape the future direction of youth development initiatives."

He observed that recommendations emerging from the previous editions had already led to tangible actions and stressed the need for a National Volunteering Policy to systematically recognise and measure the contribution of MY Bharat and NSS volunteers engaged in nation-building activities.

Earlier, Dr. Priyanka Shukla, CEO, MY Bharat, welcomed the participants and presented the strategic priorities and implementation framework under the Annual Action Plan. The first day featured sessions on transformational leadership development, annual action planning, youth club best practices, digital youth engagement through the MY Bharat Portal, experiential learning programmes, volunteering opportunities and strengthening institutional mechanisms under MY Bharat and NSS.

Representatives from Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Manipur shared successful models and field experiences relating to youth mobilisation, portal registration, volunteering initiatives and community engagement, facilitating cross-learning among participants.

The deliberations during the first day focused on strengthening grassroots youth engagement, promoting institutional convergence, enhancing programme impact and developing actionable solutions for effective implementation of youth-centric initiatives across the country.

*****

Pawan Singh Faujdar

(Release ID: 2266754) Visitor Counter : 328