Chandigarh: The 5th edition of North East Youth Fest (NEYF), Chandigarh was concluded here in a colourful late evening function where in Chief Guest Manoj Parida IAS who is Advisor to the Governor of Punjab 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 (Manoj) 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 on their turn 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 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 Honourable PM, Modiji in creating a new India where in progress will be a natural consequence of peace. She expressed hope that the Supreme Court verdict on Ram Janam Bhoomi will bring in normalcy and peace to the region and further fellowship, friendship and progress. 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-years old initiative of Chandigarh Urban Festival which promotes connect 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 who have 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.
While proposing the vote of thanks, Bharti Yumnanm from Manipur expressed gratitude to all the VIPs who graced the Fest, the resource persons, the organizers and all young people who participated in the event. A special word of thanks was made to Pema Khandu, Honourable Chief Minister of Arunachal who always encourages the initiative and to Nabam Tuki, MLA and former CM of Arunachal Pradesh who though couln’t make it to the Fest due to certain difficulties but showed great interest and encouraged the Fest. Bharti also showered generous words of praise for Bosco Net, the National Fund raising agency for Don Bosco works for disadvantaged children and youth, who had rendered some financial assistance for NEYF.
‘’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”, informed a team leader from Meghalaya, Barister Salahe
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