Imphal (PIB): IIIT Manipur team on Monday welcomed 50 students with three faculties and four student volunteers from Nagpur of Maharashtra on a week-long exposure tour to Manipur under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB), a pilot initiative by Government of India.
The team that arrived in Imphal by flight to visit Manipur will stay till March 3 and during their visits, the participants will have a multi-dimensional exposure to five broad areas –tourism, traditions, development, technology, and people-to-people connect.
The team was given a warm welcome at a reception function held at IIIT-Manipur campus in Imphal’s Mantripukhri.
“This ideal initiative of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to boost nationalism and national integration,” said Chairman of Loktak Development Authority (LDA) M Asnikumar Singh who graced the reception ceremony as Chief Guest.
The innovative programme of the Prime Minister will help youths to know the different culture, tradition and historical background of the various states of the country through person to person contact and dialogue, he added.
The LDA Chairman also highlighted a brief account of more than 2000 years history of Manipur to enlighten the visiting students.
Nodal officer of IIT Nagpur Dr Kriti S. Dorshetwar, while expressing thankfulness for extending a warm welcome to the visiting team said that “We, Maharashtrian team, is here in Imphal to make friendship with you”.
She also thanked the Prime Minister for this “beautiful” platform for the youths of the country to know each other through direct meeting and interaction.
Director of IIIT Manipur Prof. Krishnan Baskar, speaking on the occasion, welcomed the visiting team to Manipur and said that the northeastern region is not like it was in the past. He said that there has been a lot of development in the region in the last around nine years under the present government.
“The Centre is very actively working towards the northeastern states. They are not just saying to look at the northeast but also acting,” he added.
The Government of India, had conceptualized an initiative of ‘Yuva Sangam’ under Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) to strengthen people-to-people connect and build empathy between youth of the North-Eastern States and other States of the country.
This program is being organised by the Ministry of Education in collaboration with various other ministries and departments such as culture, tourism, railways, information & broadcasting, youth affairs & sports, home affairs, department for development of north-east region (DoNER) and IRCTC.
Around 1000 youths of the country are expected to participate in the Yuva Sangam with full funding from the government of India.
The Maharashtra team arrived here to reciprocate the recent visit of Manipuri students to their State (Maharashtra).
As a first initiative in the country, Chief Minister N Biren Singh in the presence of the Union Minister of State for Education & External Affairs Dr R K Ranjan Singh, Education Minister Th. Basanta Kumar Singh and Director of IIIT-Manipur, Prof. Krishnan Baskar and other dignitaries had flagged-off the first batch of 30 students from the State with three faculty members under EBSB – Yuva Sangam to visit Nagpur- Maharashtra for a period on one week on February 20 last from Imphal.
The Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT), Government of India at Mantripukhri, Imphal, is the coordinating institution for Maharashtra.
