Youth20 Inception Meeting concludes, Union Minister Anurag Thakur launches White Paper on 5 themes

Guwahati (Assam) [India], February 9 : Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports Anurag Thakur concluded the Youth20 Inception Meeting on Wednesday with the launch of White Papers on the five themes of Y20. The first Youth20 (Y20) Inception Meeting under the G20 started in Guwahati on February 6.
The closing ceremony was held on February 8, in which Dr Ranoj Pegu, Minister of Education, Government of Assam presented the Research Papers on the five themes (Future of Work: Industry 4.0, Innovation and 21st century; Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: Making Sustainability as a Way of Life; Peace Building and Reconciliation: Ushering in an Era of No War; Shared Future: Youth in Democracy and Governance; Health, Wellbeing & Sports: Agenda for Youth) to the Union Cabinet Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports.
As part of India's G20 Presidency, the Youth20 group's first inception meeting was held at Guwahati from February 6-8 to consult the youth of the nation on ideas for a better tomorrow and draft an agenda for action on five identified Y20 themes.
In the run-up to the event, 10,000 youth in around 36 colleges of Assam participated in the Seminar, debate, workshops, and quiz competitions on Y20. Over 10 lakh students from around 4000 schools also participated.
During the inception meeting, 21 foreign delegates and 200 Indian delegates participated in the main events.
In the three-day meeting on February 6, an ice-breaker session was held followed by a cultural night. Singer Papon performed at the Brahmaputra Sandbar Island during the cultural night.
During Day 2 of the Inception Meeting on February 7, Union Cabinet Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Anurag Singh Thakur participated in a dialogue with all delegates at IIT Guwahati.
Addressing the event Union Minister Anurag Thakur said, "The Y20 group would exemplify the youth-centric efforts and the Y20 Summit would showcase policy measures ideated by the youth."
In response to a question on how women's voices can be heard best, the Minister said, "The government believes in women-led development. The President of India is a tribal woman who has risen from a humble background only because of her merit. Finance Minister of India Nirmala Sitharaman is a woman who recently presented the recent budget for India; the Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup is a woman, and the Secretary of Youth Affairs, Government of India is a woman. Women in India actively participate in framing and executing policy."
Meanwhile, on being asked how India can promote the use of Ayurveda for preventive and curative purposes, the Minister stated that during the Covid pandemic, Yoga and Ayurveda were widely used both to treat and recover from illness. We continue to work on those themes.
Responding to the question on how start-ups can be encouraged, the Minister said, "In the last few years, India has become one of the largest ecosystems for start-ups in the world due to Government efforts. From a few hundred in 2016, as of 2022, over 84,000 start-ups have been established."
During Day 2 of the Inception Meeting, five-panel discussions on the five themes were held at IIT Guwahati.
Speaking on the theme of 'Peacebuilding and Reconciliation: Ushering in an Era of No War', Gen. V. K Singh (Union Minister of State, Former Chief of Army Staff) said "it is important to build an inclusive society where everyone has the opportunity to grow and this is what we have done in India. In India, we talk to militants. We use force only as a last resort. This is how we can resolve various conflicts that happen again and again and again."
Dr Uma Maheshwar, Chief Consulting Engineer at GE Aviation spoke on the theme of the Future of Work; Industry 4.0, Innovation and 21st Century Skills that how Industry 4.0 is revolutionizing work and that although new technologies are disruptive, the change is for the better.
Moreover, on the theme of 'Health, Wellbeing and Sports; Agenda for Youth', Sarita Devi shared her journey of how the sport was a motivating factor in her life, highlighting how she went from nearly joining the insurgency to winning seven world medals and serving her country as a world champion boxer from 2001-2020.
The state government, along with the Ministry of Youth Affairs, has taken up several initiatives to make the youth aware of Y20 and involve them in the process of nation-building.