Seven groups of students from North-Eastern States and Delhi took part in a competition, Youth Decide, organised at India Habitat Centre in the national Capital on Wednesday, and came out with suggestions to bridge the gap between the North-East and north India.
The contest focused on exchanging opportunities between the North-East and north India, including employment generation for the youth of the two different regions, creation of educational and entertainment opportunities. The participants also presented various ideas to tackle the persisting social and cultural differences between the North-Eastern region and the rest of the country.
A group from Hindu College, Delhi University, proposed the idea of spiritual tourism to generate employment. They suggested that tourist spots in North-Eastern States like Sikkim, which has a number of monasteries, can be promoted as spiritual tourism destination, while Arunachal Pradesh can be developed as an adventure travel destination. The participants stressed on the need for a conducive tourism policy which can bridge the perceived gap between the people of the two regions by producing opportunities to people of the two regions to appreciate the other culture.
Another group from Hansraj College and NIFT, both from national Capital, stressed on promoting trade and business with the East Asian countries in the North-East neighbourhood in order to boost economic prosperity of North-Eastern States, and to make it a gateway for the rest of the country.
Chief guest and chairman of North-Eastern Regional Council of Indian Chamber of Commerce MK Saharia said, “North-East is not just a part of a developing nation called India, it is in the middle of three fastest emerging nations of South East Asia and has the potential to become the link for the emergence of trade and commerce with these nations.” Another group of participants suggested that students and teachers exchange programmes, educational trips and excursions can be viable tools to for educational exchange between the two regions.
The students also stressed on need for the inclusion of the glorious history of North-Eastern kingdoms and tribes in school textbooks prescribed across the country. Among the various suggestions made by the groups, the idea of promoting bamboo products, which is also known as green gold, across the country was well appreciated by the resource persons.
Talking about the entertainment industry, the students suggested that acting schools should be set up in North-Eastern States. They demanded North-East film festivals should be organised across the country to make people aware of the rich art and culture of the region. The programme was attended by celebrated TV journalist Karma Paljor, Bina lakshmi Nepram and other people representing the North Eastern community. The event was sponsored by Ministry of Home Affairs, but officials of the Ministry were not available for comment.