‘Punarjagaran’- Mass Awakening Campaign for youth to be launched on 2nd October, 2014

Ministry of Skill Development, Entrepreneurship, Youth Affairs and Sports has decided to launch ‘Punarjagaran’- Mass Awakening Campaign for Youth Participation in Nation Development across India from 2nd October 2014. ‘Punarjagaran’ aims at creating awareness among youth and empower them to become active partners in nation building activities. The programme will be launched simultaneously from four districts which are situated at extreme tips of India - Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, (South), Leh in Jammu and Kashmir (North), Okha in Gujarat (West) and Roing in Arunachal Pradesh (North East) and will culminate on 25th September 2015 at Mathura (UP). The yearlong Campaign also aims to make aware and educate youth on key issues in thematic areas, provide information on the avenues for skill development, encourage and empower them with the spirit of nationalism and volunteerism. The thematic areas of the campaign are encouraging Nationalism, promoting “Swachh Bharat, Shramadaan” and popularizing the recently launched “Jan Dhan Yojana”. It has been assessed that from Leh (J&K) and Okha (Gujarat) to Mathura (UP) the campaign will traverse through 20/21 districts each thus making a total of 40 districts, whereas in case of campaign from Kanyakumari and Roing to Mathura a total of 60 districts will be covered. Therefore, under this campaign youth from a total of 100 districts will be covered. In Roing (Arunachal Pradesh) the programme will be launched by Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha) Shri Mukut Mithi. Chairman Zilla Praishad, Shri Sipi Elapra, along with senior officers of district administration will be the guests of honor. The programmes and activities include Pledge taking ceremony on Swachh Bharat Mission, cleanliness drive and organization of a 3 km rally. In Leh (J&K) the programme will be launched by Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Shri Thupstan Chhewang from the Polo Ground in the presence of senior officers of District Administration, members of NSS, NYKs Youth Clubs, Kendriya Vidhyalaya and Jwahar Navodya Vidhyalaya. The programme includes Administration of Swachh Bharat Mission pledge followed by youth convention. The resource persons will be giving a talk on development issues. This will be followed by a 3 km youth rally from Polo Ground traversing the Main bazaar and culminating again at Polo Ground. A massive cleanliness drive has been planned on the occasion. In Okha (Gujarat) the programme will be launched by Member of Parliament (Lok Sabha) Ms. Poonamben Madam. Senior officers of District Administration, Railways, Zilla Panchayat, members of NYKs Youth Clubs are scheduled to participate in the function. The programme will start with Prabhat Pheri followed by pledge taking ceremony and a 3 km Youth Rally from Railway station Okha to Nagarpalika Hqs. Essay and debate competitions, cleanliness drive etc. would be the other highlights of the launch function. In Kanyakumari (Tamil Nadu) Union Minister of State (Heavy Industries) Shri Radhakrishnan P would launch the campaign. Senior officers of District Administration, Zilla Panchayat, members of NYKs Youth Clubs, School and College students will be participating in the launching programme. A State Level Seminar on role of Youth in Participatory Governance would also be organized followed by a 3 km Youth Rally from Gandhi Mandap to Vivekananda Kendra. A Youth Convention has also been planned on the occasion. About 2000 Youth Participants are expected to participate in each of the four launch programmes.