Shillong, March 05: North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong bid adieu to the visiting Yuva Sangam team from Uttar Pradesh in an emphatic manner here on Saturday.
Around 60 students and teachers from Uttar Pradesh under the mentorship of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow had started their week-long visit to the state of Meghalaya on 28th of February 2023 under aegis of the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat mission’s Yuva Sangam scheme.
The exchange programme of youth aims to provide an immersive experience of various facets of life,recent achievements,tourism, traditions, culture and People-to-people connectbetween the 8 North Eastern States and other States.The 5 days Yuva Sangam visit of the youth of Uttar Pradesh to Meghalaya included the visit to various sites in and around Shillong.
After emphatic welcome by the NEHU Yuva Sangam, the UP team reached Shillong the same night followed by the visit to various sites at Sohra. On the 2nd of March, the youth visited Raj Bhawan and had interaction with the Governor of Meghalaya.
The Governor spoke about the various aspects of the Ek Bharat Shrestha Bharat Mission and welcomed the visiting team from Uttar Pradesh. The Governor said “I am happy to share this opportunity with you all as we all know how diverse the North Eastern region of India is.
Significantly, the North-Eastern region is culturally very rich and diverse. It is sad though that the rest of India knows very little about this area.” He exhorted that “It is timely and relevant that this exchange program of Yuva Sangam is taking place under the leadership of our Honorable Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji to help the rest of India to know better about the culture and customs of the North-East.”
Dr. B. D. R. Tiwari, IAS, Commissioner & Secretary to the Governor presented an insight about Meghalaya. While speaking about the customs of Meghalaya, he said that Meghalaya is matrilineal state and the lineage in the family runs through the mother which is not seen in any other part of the world.
He also advised the youths of Uttar Pradesh to observe the humility, culture, good behavior and cleanliness of the people of Meghalaya and how they maintain the cleanliness of their surroundings while giving an example of Mawlynnong and take back the lessons learnt in Meghalaya to Uttar Pradesh which is battling the menace of pollution.
Prof. Prabha Shankar Shukla, the Vice-Chancellor of NEHU spoke at length about the cultural exchange between the north-eastern states and the rest of India and why is it is the need of the hour to strengthen the bond and unity among the youths of the nation.
He exhorted that “The future of the country lies in the hands of the young generation of the country and it is the youth of the nation which can change the country from a developing country to a developed country.”
In the afternoon the students had a sports and interaction day at NEHU followed by a cultural evening wherein the students of NEHU showcased their talents and performed the traditional dances of all the North-Eastern states much to the delight of the visiting UP youth.
During their interaction with the NEHU fraternity, the youth expressed their joy at learning about the people of Meghalaya and how they are learning a lot about the culture of the state. One of the youths expressed that they have learned about cleanliness, humility, honesty and discipline of the drivers from the people of Meghalaya which they will certainly take back to their state.
One particular student mentioned that she was impressed at how Meghalaya is using Bamboo Garbage bins in comparison to plastic bins being used in their state.While expressing their joy at the grand hospitality provided by the state of Meghalaya, the youth said that they will be awaiting the arrival of the youth of Meghalaya on 10th of March and will try to match the level of the arrangements made by NEHU.
The cultural evening organized by the NEHU Yuva Sangam team also saw the felicitation of Smti. Silvi Passah, a khasi pioneer in the hindi education and Shri. Risingbor Kurkalang, the Padmashree Awardee from Meghalaya.
