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Participants of the 5th edition of North East Youth Fest in Chandigarh on November 13.
Chandigarh, November 17 (MExN): The 5th edition of North East Youth Fest (NEYF), Chandigarh was concluded on November 13 with a colourful late evening function.
Chief Guest, Manoj Parida, IAS who is Advisor to the Governor of Pubjab and Administrator of Chandigarh congratulated the organizers and the participants for conceptualizing and executing the very innovative Fest which centered around the theme, “Peaceful India, Prosperous India”.
Parida also called upon NE youth to be proud of themselves and have the qualities of honesty and integrity. He expressed his great “fortune in being part of the Fest” and bring back memories of his tenure as a civil servant at Arunachal Pradesh.
The educational and socio-cultural extravaganza had a mammoth gathering of about 1800 North East youth from all the eight north eastern states and ten motivational speakers taking sessions on themes such as Peace, National Integration, Personal Responsibility, Life in the Metros, Social Media Responsibility and a Panel Discussion on the theme of the Fest.
The young participants presented dances and songs and a cultural costume show, all depicting the rich cultural heritage of the region. One representative youth from every State showcased the respective state in a brief AV presentation to enable the gathering to know more about the Northeast and its people. The peak moment of the NEYF was a traditional costume show which displayed the vast cultural diversity and beauty of the North East.
Speaking at an interactive session Vina Arora, the sister of Hon’ble CM of Haryana and the brand ambassador of “Betti Pattao, Betti Bachao” for Punjab and Haryana expressed her happiness to be in being part of the Fest and interact with such a large number of youth from NE.
She called upon the participants to promote peace and progress, to have respect for others and to join hands with the vision of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in creating a new India where in progress will be a natural consequence of peace.
Don Bosco Navjeevan, Chandigarh, Director, and Organizing Secretary of NEYF, Fr. Reji Tom, in his exhortation expressed great happiness in working with NE youth at Chandigarh. Shilpa Das in her session extended invitation to all NEYF participants to join hands with her three-year old initiative of Chandigarh Urban Festival which promotes connectivity and builds bridges between people living in Chandigarh. Basanta Raj Kumar, IFS hailing from Manipur, while giving a motivational talk advised NE youth to be proud of their culture and uniqueness and preserve it.
Earlier Fr. Cyriac, Director, Don Bosco Youth Centre, Itanagar who is the Organizing Chairman of NEYF congratulated the youth leaders from the eight North Eastern states who under the leadership of Fr. Regi and Caryn, Coordinator NEYF put in tremendous efforts to make the fest see the light of day. He also thanked Pema Khandu, the Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh who has always encouraged and supported the programme. The Organizing Chairman also conveyed the best wishes of Mama Natung, Arunachal Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports and Nabam Tuki, the former Chief Minister of Arunachal who although wanted to be at NEYF couldn’t due to urgent and unexpected engagements.
The event, an initiative of Don Bosco Youth Centre, Itanagar and Don Bosco Navjeevan Society, Chandigarh is organized annually with three core concepts in focus that the Fest be Educative, Entertaining and Morally Good and to showcase and promote northeast youth and their talents and to bring them to the national mainstream in participating in building up of a peaceful and progressive India.
