February 8, 2002

    Union Minister for Youth Affairs and Sports, Sushree Uma Bharti will deliver the presidential address at the concluding function of Rashtriya Yuva Yatra at Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi on Monday. This will mark the culmination of the four Rashtriya Yuva Yatras organised by Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) in the four corners of the country – South (Kerala), East (Puri), West (Dwarka) and North (Paonta Sahib) which began in a phased manner in December 2001. The other dignitaries attending the concluding function and addressing the participants would be Minister for Civil Aviation, Shri Shahnawaz Hussain, Minister for Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation, Shri Ananth Kumar and Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports, Shri Pon. Radhakrishnan etc.

    NYKS organised four Rashtriya Yuva Yatras with the objective of undertaking mass contact programme on various issues of social and national importance including the issues of terrorism and to focus on the priority areas of youth concerns (i.e. Environment Preservation, Creation of employment by forming SHGs, Health Awareness with focus on HIV-AIDS, Empowerment of Gram Sabha, Yuva Cooperative and practice of Yoga. A two pronged strategy was adopted to implement the Yatras. The first phase dealt with environment building i.e. mass contact programme with members and village based youth clubs and Mahila Mandals. The second part dealt with undertaking of Yuva Yatras from the four directions of the country. Youth conventions were also organised as part of the four Yatras. A group of 25-30 youth formed part of the permanent contingent of each Rashtriya Yuva Yatra from the beginning point of each of the Yatras. Each permanent contingent will accompany the yatra till the last point i.e. Delhi on 11^th February, 2002.

    The first Rashtriya Yuva Yatra began on 28^th December, 2001 from Kaladi, Kerala with the flagging off a permanent contingent of 39 cyclists representing the States of Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala. Around 5000 youth and local public attended the inaugural ceremony. This yatra, after traversing the States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Goa, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan will be reaching Delhi on the 11^th of this month. The second Yatra which started from Puri on 3^rd January, 2002 had a contingent of 33 youth cyclists drawn from Orissa, Rajasthan, West Bengal and Jharkhand. About 1000 youth participated in the inaugural function. The yatra will reach Delhi after traversing the States of Orissa, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana. A Sub-Yatra was started with 18 cyclists from North-East States from Moirang in Manipur on 31^st December, 2001. The Sub-Yatra got merged with the Yuva Yatra of Puri at Ranchi after traversing the States of Manipur, Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Jharkhand by covering a distance of 2091 kms.

    The third Rashtriya Yuva Yatra commenced on 5^th January, 2002 from Dwarka in Gujarat with the flagging off of a contingent of 35 cyclists. Coinciding with the function, a blood donation programme was organised in which about 60 youth donated blood. An exhibition depicting the various developmental schemes of Gujarat and NYKS was also organised. The fourth Yatra started from Paonta Sahib, Himachal Pradesh and 30 youth cyclists formed part of the permanent contingent in this yatra. About 1000 youth participated in the inaugural function. This Yuva Yatra will also reach Delhi on the 11^th after traversing the States of Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir and Haryana.