The Inaugural Ceremony of Youth 20 (Y20) Summit was held today at Rudraksh International Cooperation and Convention Centre (RICCC), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The session was inaugurated by Shri Yogi Adityanath, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh and Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Hon’ble Union Minister, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. It was attended by around 120 delegates from G20 Countries, Guest countries and International Organizations.
Posted On: 18 AUG 2023 6:07PM by PIB Lucknow
The Inaugural Ceremony of Y20 Summit commenced at Rudraksh International Cooperation and Convention Centre in Varanasi.The Inaugural Ceremony of Youth 20 (Y20) Summit was held today at Rudraksh International Cooperation and Convention Centre (RICCC), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The session was inaugurated by Shri Yogi Adityanath, Hon’ble Chief Minister, Uttar Pradesh and Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, Hon’ble Union Minister, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. It was attended by around 120 delegates from G20 Countries, Guest countries and International Organizations.
The Inauguration ceremony was also graced by Shri Girish Chandra Yadav, Hon’ble Minister of State, Youth & Sports (I/C), Uttar Pradesh; Shri Anil Rajbhar, Hon’ble Minister, Labour and Employment, Coordination, Uttar Pradesh; Shri Ravindra Jaiswal, Hon’ble MOS (IC), Stamp and Court Fee, Registration, Uttar Pradesh; Shri Swatantra Dev Singh, Hon’ble Minister Jal Shakti; Shri A K Sharma, Minister of Energy and Urban Development; Ms. Meeta Rajivlochan, Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, GoI and Shri Anmol Sovit, Y20 Chair.
The welcome address was delivered by Anmol Sovit, Y20 Chair. Smt. Meeta Rajivlochan, Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, said, “Youths are the agents of change and they have the ability to shape the future. They are not merely passive recipients of knowledge; many of them are leaders in their own fields.” She emphasized on building an ecosystem where no young person is left behind.
Shri Anurag Singh Thakur, in his address, mentioned the significance of organizing Y20 Summit in the holy city of Varanasi, which symbolizes the past thousand years of Indian civilization. He added, “Y20 brings together young people from diverse nations, each facing unique economic, social and environmental challenges, which are shared by all of humanity.” He further added, “The Y20 Summit provides a platform for these young people to work together, find common ground and device collective solutions to tackle these global challenges.”
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath in his address invoked the power of the youth and said, “Youth are the future decision-makers; and their participation and role in the ongoing dialogue for the development of the global future of youth is pertinent.” He pointed out that Gautama Buddha was very young when he was leading change; Chandrashekhar Azad, Rajguru were teenagers at the time they dedicated themselves to the nation. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Sri Vivekanand, Pandit Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Thakur Roshan Singh and also young and through their potential, paved the path for the betterment of the society and inspired generations to come.
Pankaj Kumar Singh, Director, Department of Youth Affairs, extended the vote of thanks to the dignitaries and all those whose collaborative efforts and commitment ensured a huge success to this prestigious Y20 Summit.
The Inaugural Ceremony was followed by Panel Discussions. The first session was on ‘The Future of Work & Job Creation’ by Dr. Kavi Arya, IIT Bombay. The second Panel Discussion was held on the topic ‘Mentoring Entrepreneurs and the Future of Work’ curated by The Indus Entrepreneurs (TiE). There was also a Panel Discussion session on ‘AI in school and college curricula’ by IIT BHU, followed by a session by Y20 Secretariat on ‘Shared Future: Youth in Governance and Democracy’, which was presided by Shri Tejasvi Surya, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha through online mode and another session on ‘Future of Work: Innovation, Industry 4.0 and 21st Century’.
Later, as a part of the program, the delegates from G20 Countries, Guest Countries and International Organizations engaged in a discussion on Y20 Draft Communique, where they deliberated and negotiated on the following five identified themes of Y20:
• Future of Work: Industry 4.0, Innovation and 21st Century Skills
• Peacebuilding and Reconciliation: Ushering in an Era of No War
• Climate Change and Disaster Risk Reduction: Making Sustainability a Way of Life
• Shared Future: Youth in Democracy and Governance
• Health, Wellbeing and Sports: Agenda for Youth
The discussions took place in different conference rooms under the guidance of the five track chairs of the respective themes, thus building the way to drafting of the Y20 Communiqué. The Y20 Communiqué is a call on G20 leaders by the young people across the G20 countries to involve the dynamic youth in decision making about future development.
