Tribune News Servic

Panchkula, February 15

Haryana Speaker Gian Chand Gupta inaugurated the 4th Tribal Youth Exchange Programme on the Mata Mansa Devi Temple premises here today.

Over 220 tribal youths from five states are participating in the eight-day event, which is being held under the aegis of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan and the district administration.

Gupta said tribal youths in the age group of 18-25 were selected from most-affected districts of five states of the country — Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, Andhra Pradesh and Bihar. He said the event would provide an opportunity to the youth to understand cultural ethos, language and lifestyle of people in other parts of the country and learn about technological and industrial developments in different states of the country.

He said reluctance of tribals to interact with other communities was the reason for their economic backwardness and “we have to remove it”.

Presiding over the programme, Deputy Commissioner Mahavir Kaushik said the tribal youth exchange programme would introduce participants to the food habits, costumes and culture of different states, and make them aware of the development taking place in the country.

Ishwar Singh Duhan, Inspector General, ITBP, Bhanu, and Madhu Chaudhary, Director, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan, Haryana, were among those present on the occasion.