Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Jan 12: Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) of the Ministry of DoNER, MoS PMO, Dr Jitendra Singh said that in contemporary India, governance must reflect youth aspirations, particularly when India is the world’s youngest country today with more than 65% of its population below the age of 35 years.
Addressing a congregation of North-Eastern students organized by the State Unit of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad here this afternoon, he said this is equally as much applicable in the case of State of Jammu & Kashmir also, which is currently going through a phase of change in Government, he said and hoped that whichever be the future government in the State, it will take a special care to imbibe youth inputs and youth expectations while deciding upon its priorities. The programme was held in connection with 151th birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda the revolutionary saint of India.
Referring to today’s function, Dr Jitendra Singh said, it is a unique coincidence today that students from eight North-Eastern States along with students of India’s Northern most State are together on a common platform to commemorate the memory of two of greatest youth icons of 20th century India, Swami Vivekananda whose vision of future world is unfolding today and Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee whose vision of future India is also unfolding today.
Dr. Singh said, it is a strange paradox that the legacy of Swami Vivekananda is sought to be revived by observing “world brotherhood day” because the world has come to such a pass that mortal human being needs to be reminded that the fellow human being living beside him deserves to be treated with mutual love and compassion.
Dwelling on the legacy of Dr Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, Dr Jitendra Singh said that because of political bias, Mookerjee remained the most under-rated leader of post-independence India and the most under-rated youth activist of pre-independence India. Many of us tend to forget, he said that at a time when the British Raj was at its prime and there were only three Universities in India i.e. Calcutta, Madras and Bombay, and the Vice Chancellors were invariably the most renowned British academicians, Shyama Prasad Mookerjee, at that time barely 34 years of age, was handpicked by British rulers to become the Vice Chancellor of Calcutta University. It was, however, Mukherjee’s courage of conviction that within a few years, he tendered his resignation from the post of Vice Chancellor because his conscience did not allow him to be on the salary rolls of the British Empire after he had joined the freedom struggle, he added.
Lauding the contribution of ABVP in organizing such community programmes for students from different parts of country, Dr Jitendra Singh said, ABVP is the oldest student organization of the country which existed, although in a different format, even before independence and is inspired by ideology and culture, and not by any political objective.
Dr Nagesh Thakur, All India President of ABVP, who was the Guest of Honour on the occasion, gave a brief resume of the activities of ABVP and said that it is not a political organization, but only a character building organization for the youth. President of Jammu & Kashmir ABVP Unit, Dr. Virender Kundal and ABVP North-East Leader, Apanshu also spoke on the occasion.
The students owing allegiance to ABVP presented skits on national integration and unity during the programme and also shared their experience.
Follow our WhatsApp channel
