New Delhi, August 18: The Inaugural Ceremony of the Y20 Summit commenced at Rudraksh International Cooperation and Convention Centre in Varanasi on Friday.
The ceremony of the Youth 20 (Y20) Summit was inaugurated by Yogi Adityanath, Chief Minister, of Uttar Pradesh, and Anurag Singh Thakur, 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 Girish Chandra Yadav, Minister of State, Youth & Sports (I/C), Uttar Pradesh; Anil Rajbhar, Minister, Labour and Employment, Coordination, Uttar Pradesh; Ravindra Jaiswal, MOS (IC), Stamp and Court Fee, Registration, Uttar Pradesh; Swatantra Dev Singh, Minister Jal Shakti; A K Sharma, Minister of Energy and Urban Development; Meeta Rajivlochan, Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, GoI and Anmol Sovit, Y20 Chair.
The welcome address was delivered by Anmol Sovit, Y20 Chair. 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 building an ecosystem where no young person is left behind.
Anurag Singh Thakur, in his address, mentioned the significance of organizing the 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.”
Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath in his address invoked the power of the youth and said, “Youth is 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, and Rajguru were teenagers at the time they dedicated themselves to the nation. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Vivekanand, Pandit Ramprasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, Thakur Roshan Singh and also young and through their potential, paved the path for the betterment of society and inspired generations to come.
Pankaj Kumar Singh, Director, of the Department of Youth Affairs, extended the vote of thanks to the dignitaries and all those whose collaborative efforts and commitment ensured the huge success of 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 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. The themes include 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 and 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 the 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.
