Year End review: Department of Atomic Energy

Year End review: Department of Atomic Energy

Following are the main highlights of the activities of Department of Atomic Energy (DAE) during the year 2016:

·         Unit 1, (1000 MWe) of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project (KKNPP) was dedicated to the nation on August 10, 2016 by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi and Russian President Shri Vladimir Putin.

·         Unit 2 (1000 MWe) of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project achieves criticality and dedicated to the nation. Second Nuclear power reactor Unit of 1000 MWe capacity at Kudankulam in Tamil Nadu achieved criticality on 10th July, 2016. This is the second 1,000 MWe pressurised water reactor to go critical in the country. The first unit at Kudankulam went critical in July 2013. The Unit 2 (1000 MWe) of Kudankulam Project was later dedicated to the Indo-Russian Partnership on October 15, 2016 during the BRICS Summit by the Prime Minister  Shri Narendra Modi and Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin.

·         Foundation laying of Units 3 & 4 of the Kudankulam Nuclear Power Project. On October 15, 2016, laying of Foundation Concrete of Units 3&4 of KKNPP was also done by the Prime Minister  Shri Narendra Modi and Russian President Mr. Vladimir Putin.

·         India-Japan Agreement for Cooperation in Nuclear Energy. Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi and the Japanese Prime Minister Shri Shinzo Abe, signed the Agreement for Cooperation in the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Energy between the two countries, on November 11, 2016, which reflects a new level of mutual confidence and strategic partnership in the cause of clean energy, economic development and a peaceful and secure world.

·         India becomes Associate Member of CERN, Geneva (November 21, 2016). India and European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) signed an agreement making India an Associate Member State of CERN. This follows CERN Council’s adoption of the resolution to this effect on September 15, 2016. The agreement was signed by Dr. Sekhar Basu, Chairman, Atomic Energy Commission and Secretary, Department of Atomic Energy and CERN Director General Dr. Fabiola Gianotti in Mumbai. Participation in CERN programmes is a success story of scientific collaborations and cooperation where researchers from large number of national Institutes and Universities from India work together in forming active collaborations in the pursuit of fundamental knowledge, achieving scientific and engineering breakthrough as well as training the next generation of scientists.

·         Cabinet grants ‘in-principle’ approval to the LIGO-India mega science proposal. The Union Cabinet chaired by the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has given its ‘in principle’ approval to the LIGO-India mega science proposal for research on gravitational waves, on February 17, 2016. The proposal, known as LIGO-India project (Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory in India) is piloted by Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Science and Technology (DST). The approval coincided with the historic detection of gravitational waves a few days ago that opened up of a new window on the universe to unravel some of its greatest mysteries. 

·         India supplied indigenous teletherapy machine Bhabhatron, for cancer treatment to Bougando Medical Centre in Tanzania. The Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had earlier announced the donation of the Bhabhatron II Teletherapy machine to the Centre during his visit to Tanzania in July 2016.

·         Novel design of CO₂ sorbents. Scientists at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, DAE have developed a novel design of CO₂ sorbents that show superior CO₂ capture capacity and stability over conventional materials.

·         DHRUVA reactor at Trombay, producing medical isotopes, operated at full power throughout the year and touched its highest ever capacity factor since its commissioning.

·         BARC develops kit for detection of Chromium contamination of water (August 17, 2016). BARC has developed a simple, user friendly, quick and cost effective kit for onsite determination of Cr (VI), which meets IS10500 as well as EPA criterion. It provides the much needed solution to measure the level of Chromium contamination in drinking water and tap water, lakes, rivers as well as ground water. This is yet another example of BARC’s efforts towards ‘Make in India’ campaign of the Government of India. This kit can be used for detection of carcinogenic Chromium in ground water around the Ganga belt.

·         BARC and Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology sign MoU for joint development of Deep Brain Stimulator. As per the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between BARC & SCTMIST on August 12, 2016, BARC will develop the device as per specifications provided by SCTMIST and SCTMIST will be responsible for clinical trials, testing and qualification. Electronics Division, Reactor Control Division and Centre for Design & Manufacture of BARC will participate in the development of various subsystems. The 1st prototypes are planned to be available in 3 years. 

·         Hall of Nuclear Energy inaugurated in Delhi. The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances, Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh inaugurated the “Hall of Nuclear Power” in New Delhi on January 16, 2016. This is Northern India’s first permanent exhibition on nuclear power, built in the national capital at National Science Centre (NSC).  The exhibition, titled ‘Hall of Nuclear Power – Atoms Serving the Nation’ is spread over an area of about 700 sq. m., with over 60 permanent exhibits, covering various aspects of nuclear energy, with prime focus on nuclear power plant safety and applications for human welfare, which include nuclear medicine, food irradiation, as well as several other day-to-day applications of nuclear energy. Scientific information about nuclear power generation, its basics and non-power uses of nuclear and radiation technology has also been showcased at the gallery. The gallery is replete with the state-of-the-art exhibits, interactive kiosks, virtual tour (of a nuclear power plant in a mini theater), glasses-free 3D displays, touch-screen info panels, as well as quiz and interactive Q&A exhibits for the visitors. 

·         International Conference on “India’s role in Global Nuclear Governance”.  A three-day International conference on “India’s role in Global Nuclear Governance” was organised in New Delhi from February 24-26, 2016. The conference was organized by the Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (IDSA). This conference brings together scholars working on global nuclear governance in India and abroad to discuss the challenges and opportunities of the emerging nuclear governance architecture. It focuses on how India can play a more proactive role as a driver of new ideas on the subject.

·         National Symposium on “Public Education on Radiation Safety”.  A National Symposium on “Public Education on Radiation Safety” was held in New Delhi on February 16, 2016. A book on “Radiation Safety Management” was also released. MoS Dr Jitendra Singh stressed upon the urgent need to start a country wide awareness campaign to educate the public about the enormous peaceful benefits of nuclear energy and to clear the air about the apprehensions which sometimes come in the way of setting up of new atomic and nuclear plants under the Department of Atomic Energy (DAE). 

·         8th Nuclear Energy Conclave.  The 8^th Nuclear Energy Conclave was organised by India Energy Forum in New Delhi on September 30, 2016.  The Theme of the Conference this year was “Meeting the Non-Fossil Energy Targets through Nuclear Power”. The Conclave focussed on advanced technologies for safer and cleaner fossil energy leveraging domestic engineering/manufacturing/construction capabilities, advancement of technology within the country, Safety and Regulation.

Department of Sports: Major Achievements during 2016

Department of Sports: Major Achievements during 2016

Year End Review

·                     Rio Paralympics – 2016: India won its highest ever medal tally of 4 medals (2 Gold, 1 Silver and 1 Bronze all in athletics). The athletes are Shri Devendra Jhajharia and Shri Mariappan, Gold medalists, Ms Deepa Malik, Silver medalist and Shri Varun Singh Bhati, Bronze medalist. Cash award distribution function was held for medal winners of Rio Olympics/Paralympics. Prime Minister met medal winners in Paralympics 2016 on 22.9.2016.

·                     Participation of Athletes ensuring and making all arrangements for participation of the largest ever contingent of India in Olympics / Paralympics 2016 in Rio. India won 2 medals in Olympics (1 silver and 1 Bronze in Badminton and wrestling respectively).

·                     Committees for selection of sports awardees were constituted, sports awards finalized and given away by President of India in Rashtrapati Bhawan      on 29th August, 2016.  Prime Minister also met the awardees on 28th             August, 2016.

·                     BRICS U-17 Football tournament: First ever U-17 Football tournament among teams of five BRICS countries was organized and successfully held at Goa in October 2016.  All the five BRICS countries participated in the same.

·                     Run for Rio on 31st July, 2016 was organized to create awareness among masses about Rio Olympics and to convey wishes of the country-men to Olympians and Paralympians participating in Rio for 2016.  The same was flagged off by Prime Minister.

·                     Consultation with Elite sports persons:  First ever Round Table conference was held with Khel Ratna Awardees, Dronacharya Awardees and other eminent sports personalities/athletes in Vigyan Bhawan on 3rd October, 2016 on the performance of India in Olympics / Paralympics 2016 and action plan for future.

·                     Indian U-18 Men Hockey Team won gold in 4^th at Dhaka Asia cup beating Bangladesh in the final at Dhaka.

·                     “Chintan Workshop”a brain storming session was held with former Olympians, Sports Science Experts, Sr. Beaurocrats of Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports on 10.11.2016 at Major Dhyanchand National Stadium.

·                     National Sports Day was celebrated on 29.08.2016 at Major Dhyanchand National Stadium.

·                     All India Meeting of grassroots level officers of SAI at different SAI Training Centres spread across India was held on 17^th October, 2016 to know about the issues relating to the Centres.

·                     Khelo Football:  Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) has already organized a pilot programme “#Khelo Football”, for development and popularization of football. Through this programme, talents from the remote areas has been scouted and one team each in the Junior Girls and Boys has been formed and given Wild Card Entry in the 57th edition of Subroto Cup Football Tournament 2016. Both teams have undergone training under the supervision of coaches from Delhi Dynamos FC. Also, Football Utsavas and Raahgiri days were conducted to associate general public and educate them with the awareness of sports oriented lifestyle. Rs. 80 lac was sanctioned by the Ministry for the Khelo Football programme.

·                     Village level sports competitions in Jammu & Kashmir: Rs. 5 Crores have been released to J&K under Khelo India Scheme for organising village level sports competitions in sports disciplines which are popular in the valley so that young children can be engaged in productive activities.

·                     Addressing the 64th meeting of the Central Advisory Board of Education (CABE), Minister of State (I/C) emphasized the need to make Sports a Compulsory Subject in Schools and give marks for it, and also that every educational institution should have access to a playfield and basic sports facilities. Such institutions which do not have these facilities should tie up with neighboring institutions.  Further, it was also suggested that, physical education teachers should be engaged by every school. Standard guidelines should be framed and issued for admission under sports quota, relaxation to sportspersons from attendance and appearance in examinations.

·                     MoU between India and New Zealand on cooperation in the field of Youth and Sports: A MoU was signed between the two countries on 28^th October, 2016 at New Delhi. The MoU envisages cooperation between the two countries in the field of Youth Affairs & Sports and will encourage and promote an exchange of programs, experiences, skills, techniques, information and knowledge.

·                     MOS (I/C) YA&S chaired a meeting of 46 major Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) and Public Sector Banks (PSBs) on 24.11.16: The meeting was for seeking their cooperation in sports. It emerged that there should be synergy of efforts between organizations for sports development.

·                     Mission 11 Million Programme: FIFA U-17 World Cup is being looked at as an opportunity to popularize the sport of Football amongst youth. Following the call of Prime Minister, the Department of Sports has taken a series of steps to popularize Football throughout the country. After several rounds of discussion with FIFA, AIFF, KVS, CBSE, Subroto Mukerjee Sports Education Society (SMSES) and other stake-holders a ‘Mission 11 Million programme’ has been formulated to be launched in collaboration with AIFF and FIFA in about 30 cities across the country. The primary objective of the programme is to engage more than 11 million children in activities relating to Football. The programme is likely to be launched soon. The Ministry has sanctioned Rs. 12.55 crore for the programme.

·                      Launch of a new scheme ‘Khelo India - National Programme for Development of Sports’:  A new Central Sector Scheme namely ‘Khelo India’ was launched from the financial year 2016-17 onwards. The scheme has three components viz., competitions from district level upwards, talent nurturing and development of sports infrastructure from Tehsil  level onwards and funds have been provided to various states for conducting Sports competitions from district level upwards.                     

·                     Conference of the State Ministers and Secretaries for Youth Affairs and Sports was held in Vigyan Bhawan at New Delhi on 15.11.16. It was discussed that state governments will also need to enhance funding for Broad Basing of Sports and Excellence in Sports and provide adequate funds for maintenance of Sports infrastructure already created. It would also be desirable that funding of State and National Sports Federations are tied with measurable outputs and performances.

·                     Special Certificate Course in Sports Coaching for J&K Sportspersons Started at National Institute of Sports (NIS), Patiala: The Minister of State (I/C) for Youth Affairs and Sports inaugurated Special Certificate Course in Sports Coaching for Jammu and Kashmir sportspersons at Netaji Subhash National Institute of Sports (NSNIS) Patiala.

·                     Rs. 5 Crores have been released to J&K under Khelo India Scheme for organising village level sports competitions in sports disciplines which are popular in the valley so that young children can be engaged in productive activities.

·                     National Sports development bill has been sent to Legislative department for approval and is likely to be introduced in Budget session of parliament.             

·                     MoS (I/C) MYAS, has also written to Chairman, DDA, to make necessary policy changes in the allotment policy of land by DDA for the schools for restoration of allotment of land of 4 acres to new Senior Secondary Schools, subject to the condition that a minimum of 2 acres, out of the land is developed as playground/play area, and 2 acres of for new Primary Schools in Delhi, whether they are Government or private.

·                     Direct Benefit Transfer : Matter has been taken up with all the States with the request to issue requisite instructions to create a DBT portal in the Department of Sports/State Sports Councils of the States/UTs to make payments to the beneficiaries through RTGS/NEFT/PFMS and create a digitization of the beneficiaries database, obtain and seed Aadhar card details of beneficiaries and include the details of payment whether it is in cash or in kind.

·                     Matter has been taken up and being pursued with Ministry of HRD  for integration of sports with education.  For realizing full potential of sports, it was suggested that there should be one period every day devoted compulsorily for sports and games upto 12^th class and twice a week in colleges and institutes of higher education, at least upto 2^nd year of their college education.   Further, it was also suggested sporting activities by students are to be  evaluated like academic subjects  and to be promoted to the next class only when they have achieved minimum marks, as specified for other subjects.  

·                     India beat Belgium 2-1 to win junior hockey world cup title on 18.12.2016.

Department of Youth Affairs: Major Achievements during 2016

Department of Youth Affairs: Major Achievements during 2016

Year End Review

Restructuring of the Schemes of the Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs And Sports

The Scheme of the Department have been consolidated and restructured into 3 compact schemes, w.e.f. 01.04.2016, as follows:

S. No	Earlier Schemes	New Schemes
1.	Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan NYKS)	Merged into a new ‘umbrella’ Scheme called “Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram (RYSK)”.
2.	National Youth Corps (NYC)
3.	National Programme for  Youth & Adolescent Development (NPYAD)
4.	International Cooperation
5.	Youth Hostels (YH)
6.	Assistance to Scouting & Guiding Organisations
7.	National Discipline Scheme (NDS)
8.	National Young Leaders Programme (NYLP)
9.	National Service Scheme (NSS)	National Service Scheme (NSS)
10.	Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development  (RGNIYD)	Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development  (RGNIYD)

Thus, earlier Schemes listed at S.No.1 to 8 above will now operate as sub-schemes of the new umbrella scheme, namely, “Rashtriya Yuva Sashaktikaran Karyakram (RYSK). NSS and RGNIYD will continue to be operated as separate Schemes.

The major achievements under the above Schemes/ Sub-Schemes during 2016-17 are given below:

1.         Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS): 

NYKS, with about 8.65 million youth enrolled through 3.03 lakh youth clubs, has been working all over the Country to develop the personality of the youth and to engage them in nation-building activities. Some significant initiatives/ achievements of NYKS during the year are as follows:  

§         International Day of Yoga:  NYKS actively participated in celebration of International Day of Yoga, at all levels.  17 State level events were organised with participation of 55,705 youth. At District level, programmes were organised in 381 Districts in which 2,21,811 youth participated. At village level, 40,903 youth clubs organised yoga demostrations in which 9,75,040 youth participated.

§         Tiranga Yatras:  As part of celebrations of the 70^th year of independence, NYKS organised Tiranga Yatras in 113 Districts, with participation of 69,640 youth.

§         Swachh Bharat Mission:  NYKS volunteers have been actively participating in Swachh Bharat Mission activities across the country. During the Swachh Bharat Pakhwada observed by the Ministry during 16-31 August, 2016, NYKS volunteers undertook a number activities across the country, including cleanliness drives in 2,214 villages, cleaning of 3,495 schools/ anganwadis/ public statues/ panchayat bhawans, cleaning of 2,618 public institutions, health sub-centres, PHCs, etc.  NYKS is working with National Mission for Clean Ganga and with M/o Drinking Water and Sanitation to spread awareness for cleanliness and sanitation in villages along Ganga river. NYKS has also signed MoU with M/o Urban Development for taking up special campaign for cleanliness in 9 urban local bodies of the NCR.

§         NYKS is undertaking very active campaign to popularize digital payments.

§         14.55 lakh saplings were planted by NYKS volunteers.

§         12,271 units of blood was donated by NYKS volunteers.

§         2,969 skill up-gradation training programmes were organised, involving 69,598 youth.

§         309 training programmes on youth leadership and community development were organised, involving 11,617 youth.

§         1092 Youth Club Development Programmes organised, involving 69,732 youth.

§         10,750 youth clubs were provided with sports material. 426 Sports Meets have been organised, involving 45,630 youth.

§         5,737 Programmes held to celebrate days of national and international significance, involving7,47,324 youth.

§         23 Programmes were organised for promotion of folk art and culture, involving 2,573 youth.

§         381 District Youth Conventions and Yuva Kriti Programmes organised, involving 2,21,811 youth.

§         2 adventure camps were organised, involving 50 youth.

§         4 National Integration Camps were organised, with participation of 1,091 youth.

§         4 Life Skill Education Camps organised with participation of 186 youth.

§         4 Youth Leadership and Development Programmes were organised, with participation of 127 youth.

§         9^th Tribal Youth Exchange Programme is being organised in 10 locations across the country, with participation of about 2,000 youth from 28 LWE-affected districts from the States of Chhattisgarh, Maharashtra, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Odisha & Jharkhand.

§         A North-East Youth Exchange Programme was organised at Nagpur, with participation of 275 youth from 6 North Eastern States.

2.         National Service Scheme (NSS):

NSS, with about 3.66 million student youth enrolled in 39,695 NSS units spread over through 391 Universities/ +2 Councils, 16,278 Colleges/ Technical Institutions and 12,483 Senior Secondary Schools across the country, has been working for development of personality and character of student youth through voluntary community service. Some significant initiatives/ achievements of NSS during the year are as follows:

§         NSS has been restructured as a Central Sector Scheme w.e.f. 01.14.2016. The Scheme was a CSS upto 2015-16.

§         NSS volunteers have been actively participating in Swachh Bharat Mission activities across the country.

§         On the occasion of International Day of Yoga (21.06.2016), about 10.91 lakh NSS Volunteers participated in various yoga programmes across the country.

§         9.45 lakh saplings were planted by NSS volunteers.

§         62,062 units of blood was donated by NSS volunteers.

§         1.10 lakh children administered Pulse Polio drops by NSS volunteers.

§         1,904 health/ eye/ immunisation camps were organised, in which 1.47 lakh volunteers participated.

§         8,573 awareness programmes/ rallies/ campaigns were organised on issues of relevance to the community, in which 7.88 lakh volunteers participated.

§         32.36 lakh volunteer-hours of Shramadaan was undertaken by NSS volunteers during the year.

§         A North East NSS Youth Festival was organised in Mizoram, in which 300 volunteers from various North Eastern States participated.

§         7 National Integration Camps were organized at Guwahati, Jaipur, Coimbatore, Agra, Bhubaneswar, Nagpur and Rangareddy (Telangana). 1,470 NSS Volunteers and Programme Officers participated in the Camps from across the country.

§         Self-Defence Training was imparted to 18,460 NSS volunteers.

§         1,274 NSS volunteers have participated in adventure activities.

§         ‘Digital India’ workshops was organised in 121 Universities across the country, in collaboration with National e-Governance Division (NeGD), Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology. About 32,000 NSS Volunteers participated in the Workshops.

§         To recognise the outstanding work done by by NSS Volunteers, NSS Programme Officers and the Universities/+2 Councils, 45 Indira Gandhi NSS Awards for the year 2015-16 were conferred by the Hon’ble President of India on 19.11.2016 at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

3.         Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD):

            RGNIYD, located at Sriperimbudur (Tamilnadu), is a premier institution for training, research, extension and outreach initiatives on youth issues. RGNIYD has been declared as an “Institute of National Importance” through enactment of RGNIYD Act, 2012. Some significant initiatives/ achievements of RGNIYD during the year are as follows:

§         114 Training/ Capacity Building Programmes were organised on various important themes, involving 8,518 participants. 

§         83 International, National and Regional Workshops on various themes held.

§         Academic courses have been restructured and new courses have been introduced, as a result of which number of students enrolled in academic courses has gone up from 292 in 2015-16 to 464 in the current year.

§         B.Voc. Programme on “Apparel Manufacturing and Entrepreneurship” and “Fashion Design and Retail”, started in collaboration with Apparel Training and Design Centre (ATDC), Ministry of Textiles, Govt. of India, is being run in 12 ATDC Centres, with total 419 student enrolled in these Centres.

§         RGNIYD, Chandigarh Regional Centre, organised International Youth Leadership Summit, 2016 at Chandigarh on 01.10.2016 in collaboration with Yuvsatta. 54 youth leaders from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Brazil, France, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Nepal and Palestine attended the Summit.

§         RGNIYD, as a partner organisation of ISRO, has signed a Letter of Intent (LOI) with National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad, for mapping the assets of 40 village panchayats in Tamil Nadu under the EPRIS (Empowering PRIs Spatially) Project of ISRO to empower the PRIs with space-based inputs towards resource-based and integrated spatial development planning of rural areas.

4.         International Cooperation:

The Department seeks to operate international youth exchange programmes with various countries to develop international perspective among the youth and also to collaborate with various international agencies on youth development. Some significant achivements during the year are as follows:

April, 2016	Visit of 45-member Indian Youth delegation to Maldives.
May, 2016	§         Visit of 32-member Indian Youth delegation to South Korea. §         Visit of 50-member Youth delegation from Maldives to India.
June, 2016	Visit of 197-member Indian Youth Delegation to China.
July, 2016	§         Organisation of 2nd BRICS Youth Summit at Guwhati, Assam. §         Visit of 5-member Indian Youth Delegation to participate in Y20 Summit in China. §         Visit of 7-Member Indian Youth Delegation to Vietnam.
September, 2016	Visit of 35-member South Korean Youth delegation to India.
October, 2016	Participation of Joint Secretary, Youth Affairs in UNV Partnership Forum in Bonn, Germany.
November, 2016	§         Visit of 187-member Youth Delegation from China. §         Visit of 11-member Youth Delegation from Bahrain. §         Visit of 27-member Youth Delegation from Sri Lanka. §         Visit of 39-member Youth Delegation from Russia.
December, 2016	Visit of 102-member Youth Delegation from Bangladesh.

A Project on “Strengthening of NYKS and NSS” is being implemented in collaboration with UNDP/ UNV. The Project is to be implemented over 4-year period at a total cost of about Rs.14 crores. The Project manpower has been recruited, trained and deployed in the field. The implementation of the Project is going in full swing.

5.         National Programme for Youth and Adolescent Development (NPYAD):

§         NPYAD is an umbrella scheme for providing support to Government/ non-Government organisations for undertaking activities for adolescent and the youth. During the year, assistance has been given to 15 Organisations.

§         It has been decided to organise 21^th National Youth Festival at Rohtak, Haryana during 12-16 January, 2017. About 5,000 youth are expected to participate in the Festival. 

§         Department of Youth Affairs is partnering with Ministry of External Affairs for organisation of Youth Pravasi Bharatiya Divas on 7^th January, 2017.

§         The Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Awards for 2015 were conferred by the Hon’ble President of India on 29.08.2016.

6.         National Young Leaders Programme (NYLP):

           

In pursuance to the Budget announcement during 2014-15, a new Scheme, namely, ‘National Young Leaders Programme (NYLP)’ was launched in December, 2014 in order to develop leadership qualities among the youth. Some significant achivements during the year are as follows:

§         Neighbourhood Youth Parliament Programmes are being organised by involving NYKS-affiliated youth clubs with the objective of developing leadership qualities of the youth by involving them in debate/ discussions on contemporary issues. During current year, 7,311 Block level Programmes were organised, with participation of 6.07 lakh youth. In addition, 11,683 Village-level Programmes were organised, involving 2.86 lakh youth.

§         Youth for Development:  The Programme is being organised, through NYKS and NSS, to develop leadership qualities of the youth by involving them in Shramadaan activities. Awards are given to youth clubs/ NSS units doing outstanding work. During current year, awards were given to 1,711 youth clubs.

7.         Youth Hostels: 

Under Youth Hostel Scheme of the Ministry, 83 Youth Hostels have been constructed in various parts of the Country, in collaboration with States, for promoting youth travel and youth exchange.ISO Certification has been obtained for 6 Hostels, namely, Dalhousie, Mysore, Jodhpur, Puducherry, Agra and Panjim Youth Hostels.