Jammu and Kashmir Youth Share their Dreams and Aspirations at Utsav Jammu and Kashmir

New Delhi, Delhi, India , 2006-11-15

“Utsav Jammu and Kashmir” a Jammu & Kashmir Youth Cultural Exchange programme organized by Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS), a premier and prestigious body of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and India’s largest non-political grass root level organization for rural youth ended today amidst much fanfare and colours. The festival, an effort at rediscovering the unity and diversity of nature and the composite culture of the country has been organized in association with Department of Jammu and Kashmir Affairs, Ministry of Home Affairs. More than 500 youths from various parts of J&K; have come to participate in the various activities of the festival.

Shri Mani Shankar Aiyar, Minister of Panchayat Raj and Youth Affaire & Sports, Government of India, Dr.Shakeel Ahmed Khan, Director Genreal, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan and other NYSK officials were present on the occasion.

Utsav Jammu & Kashmir is an annual cultural exchange programme organized by NYKS to dispel existing misconceptions in the minds of the youth of J&K; with an aim at strengthening the emotional and cultural ties among the youths in various parts of the country and making them proponents of national unity, integrity and peace in Jammu & Kashmir and elsewhere. It is an endeavor at to strengthening the bond between the people of Jammu & Kashmir and the rest of the country and providing them an opportunity to support their peace movement through cultural exchange. Utsav Jammu and Kashmir seeks to bolster a sense of belongingness towards the soil among the youth nationwide.

Very enthused about the event, Dr. Shakeel Ahmad Khan, Director General, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, said “ Jammu & Kashmir Youth Cultural Exchange Programme is a unique initiative of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan which provides ample opportunities to the J & K youth to visit many important places of historical and cultural significance in different parts of India, interact and understand their fellow countrymen which might strengthen their belief in the process of peace building and national integration.”

The programme was marked by a variety of programmes especially lined up to give maximum exposure to the youth of the Kashmir which including cultural evening and exhibition, Delhi darshan and other such activities. The youth of Kashmir also enjoyed the patriotic movie “Jung-e-Azadi 1875”. They also attended a Thematic Discussion on “WHERE THERE IS LOVE THERE IS LIFE.HATRED LEADS TO DESTRUCTION” at IIPA Auditorium (near ITO).

As part of the cultural Exchange programme the youth would be going to various parts of the country to have a feel and understanding of the cultural diversity and the inherent unity of the country.

Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS): Empowering Youth

The youth are major human resource for development, and thus key agents of social change, economic development and technological innovation. Therefore a need for youth involvement and participation in the socio-economic, cultural, and political environment of the country, in its development programs, as well as in activities based on youth’s specific needs, desires and aspirations is always needed.

The Nehru Yuva Kendra were established in 1972 as part of the Silver Jubilee celebration of India's Independence with the objective of providing the non-student rural youth with the opportunity to grow and achieve national goals. This was on the recommendation of the National Advisory Board on Youth with the objective of providing the non-student rural Youth avenues to take part in nation building activities and also to provide opportunity for the development of their own personality and skills.

In 1987 Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) was constituted as an autonomous organization of Department of Youth Affairs & Sports under the Ministry of Human Resources Development. Today, it functions under the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports. NYKS is a registered society and is governed by a Board of Governors headed by the Minister of Youth Affairs & Sports.

Today as the largest grass-root organization of its kind in the world, NYKS reaches through more than 8 million non-student rural youth in India in the age group of 15-35 years, through its 0.18 million village-level youth clubs. The organization’s strategy has been generation of awareness; organization and mobilization of the youth for development work in the village, with emphasis on value, vision and voluntary action.

The Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan currently has 500 district offices, 46 regional offices, 18 zones, 1000 youth development centers and over 181 thousand village based youth clubs enrolled under it. The purpose behind these clubs at the grass-root level is to form village-level voluntary action groups of youth that may come together with concern for the poorest of the poor.

NYKS’ strength lies in 5000 national service volunteers and nearly 8 million youth volunteers through a vast network of Youth Clubs and Mahila Mandals at the grass-root level. Through NYKS, these village-based organizations have become local pressure groups as well as catalytic agents for socio-economic, cultural, political and environmental transformation. These groups have in fact become Functional Action Groups with rural sustainability and self-reliance as their hallmark. When viewed in these terms, the role of NYKS could be defined as that of not merely an organization but a mass movement.

Contact

Madhukar Kumar, Grey Cell Public Relations, +91 (011) 65391919, 65391139, +91 9213494949
[email protected]