Former Union Minister and in-charge of BJP’s Mahila Morcha, Daggubati Purandeswari, on Tuesday said the government should groom and channelise youth in the right direction.
“India is a very young nation, and 40 per cent of our population is below 40 years. The world is looking at India. It is the responsibility of policy-makers to groom and channelise the youth of the country,” she said, addressing a cultural exchange programme for youth organised at Samana Institute of Design Studies (SIDS), by volunteers of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyardhi Parishad (ABVP).
The programme was part of the National Interaction tour organised by the ABVP as part of its 50-year-old Students’ Experience in Inter-State Living (SEIL) programme, which is designed to help students from north-eastern States to understand the lifestyle and culture of other States.
She said there was a sense of pessimism among the people of north-eastern States in the past “perhaps because of historical reasons”. She added: “We need the youth of the country to unite as one force. We need to understand that we are all part of one important civilisation of the world. Despite several wars on our country and our cultures, we remain one. Our culture has given us the strength to imbibe the good in other cultures.”
Lacing her speech with slokas from the Vedas, she said: ‘It is this enriched culture that binds us together. We are Indians. We are one family.”
ABVP State treasurer Mr. Sambasiva Rao said the purpose of SEIL was to provide a platform to students of the ‘Seven Sister’ States to familiarise themselves with the culture and lifestyle of other States. “There is a lot of discrimination against the north-eastern region. We want to erase that through this platform,” he said.
Woman entrepreneur Jogu Prasad said the programme was truly a reflection of national integration. Samana Moosavi, CEO and Managing Director of SIDS, said she was happy that her institute played a pivotal role raising its voice for a great cause.
Akshara School principal Sarada Anil Kumar, Vilan Apparels director Y. Padmaja and Pinnamaneni Siddhartha Nursing College convener V. Sasikala were among those who were present.
