Union Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports KirenRijiju represented India in the Y20 Global Summit on October 15, 2020, aimed at exchanging ideas and dialogues between nations to empower the youth across the world.
Rijiju was on a panel to discuss the Post Covid Opportunities for the Youth and was joined by Senator Matteo Renzi, former Prime Minister of Italy, Dr. Flavio Siniscalchi, Head of the Department of Youth Policies and Universal Civic Service, Presidency of the Council of Ministers (Italy), H.E Alvin Tan, Minister of State, Ministry of Community, Culture and Youth & Ministry of Trade and Industry (Singapore). The host country for the Y20 Summit this year was Saudi Arabia.
Speaking at the summit Rijiju stressed upon the need to galvanise the youth to take on the challenges set forth by the worldwide Covid 19 Pandemic. Sharing India’s experience, Rijiju said, “As a country with a large youth population, India has proactively engaged its youth during the Covid pandemic with more than 6.5 million youth volunteers of the Ministry of Youth Affairs working in the frontline to create awareness among the masses. Covid has thrown unprecedented challenges at us and it is the vision of our Prime Minister Narendra Modi that the youth must be engaged in volunteerism, and within the next few months India will have about 10 million volunteers who will work further towards addressing post Covid challenges.”
Rijiju also emphasised on the need for being self-reliant in the post Covid world, a policy that has been adopted in India under the guidance of the PM. “The world has faced many hardships in the last few months and the extent of damage has been huge. However, it is now time for us to look ahead and rejuvenate ourselves. It is important to keep a positive mindset. In India, massive economic packages have been announced so that the youth can become self-reliant or Atmanirbhar and take care of livelihood requirements. During this time, it is also very important to be physically as well as mentally Fit. The Fit India Movement which is being propagated across the country as envisioned by our PM, and has now become a People’s Movement, has acted as a great means to keep our citizens mentally engaged and physically healthy.” Rijiju summarized that the two-pronged approach of strengthening physical and mental health on the one hand and financial security on the other can ensure empowerment of the youth in these difficult times.
