Hubballi, Jan 10 (IANS): Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate this year's National Youth Festival at Hubballi in Karnataka on January 12 on the occasion of the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.
This was announced by the Union Minister for Youth and Sports Affairs Anurag Singh Thakur at a media briefing in New Delhi on Tuesday.
The 26th National Youth Festival will be held from January 12 to 16 at Hubballi- Dharwad, Karnataka, and is being organised by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with the Karnataka government.
Thakur said that as the country is celebrating 'Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav', the festival aims to step up the role of youth in nation building during 'Amrit Kaal'. Therefore, it will be an endeavour to disseminate the message of 'Panch Pran' as espoused by the Prime Minister among the youth, the Union Minister added.
Giving further details, Thakur said that India is holding G20 Presidency this year which is a matter of great pride for every Indian.
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is organising 'Y Talks' throughout the country for Y(Youth)-20 activities of G-20.
The National Youth Festival will set the pace for Y-20 engagement across the country by sensitising the youth about the themes of Y-20. The participants will in turn take the message and themes of Y-20 to every nook and corner of the country, the Union Minister added.
Thakur also said that the Youth Festival is being celebrated as a green festival using only biodegradable materials. The focus will be on Prime Minister's 'Mission LiFE and Green Energy', the Union Minister added.
Giving details about the festival, Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Government of India, Meeta R. Lochan said that the 26th National Youth Festival is being organised at Hubballi-Dharwad, Karnataka, by the Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with the Karnataka government.
More than 30,000 youth will attend the inaugural event where the Prime Minister will share his vision with them. During this unique five-day event, more than 7,500 youth delegates from all over India, recognised and leaders in their own field of activity, get together to engage in different learning activities. The theme of the festival this year is 'Viksit Yuva Viksit Bharat'.
Activities in the festival include (1) Discussions on relevant themes like student centric governance and Digital India. Domain leaders and other experts will engage in lively discussions with elected representatives about how to facilitate student-centric governance. (2) Adventure sports activities like scuba diving are included. (3) Exhibitions of traditional sports like Kalaripayatu (Kerala), Silambam (Tamil Nadu), Gatka (Punjab), Mallakhamb (Maharashtra) are being organised. (4) Competitive cultural events like folk dance and folk song are organised where troupes from different states participate. Interesting non-competitive events include social development fair 'Yuva Kriti', 'Adventure Festival', 'Suvichar', 'Young artists camp', among others.
The Youth Summit will include two-way discussions on following themes: i) Future of Work, Industry, Innovation and 21st Century Skills, ii) Climate change and disaster risk reduction, iii) Peace building and Reconciliation, iv) Shared future-youth in democracy and governance, v) Health and well-being
Many events in the festival will be livestreamed across the nation so that crores of young people can also be engaged with the entire festival.
This year the festival is being celebrated as Green Youth Festival where only reusable cutlery, napkins etc are being used. All the mementos, medals, stationery are of reusable material. Water refilling stations are set up to reduce use of disposables.
On January 15, a Yogathon is planned between 6 to 8 a.m. by mobilising five lakh people from across 31 districts of Karnataka.
A large number of activities with youth engagement will be organised throughout the period of the festival across the country.