Dimapur, Oct. 13 (EMN): A four day 2nd Xchange Northeast Youth NGO summit got underway on Oct. 12 at the Pastoral Centre in Shillong with Chief Secretary Meghalaya Y Tsering as the chief guest.
In his address, Tsering encouraged the young NGOs participating in the summit not to be depended on others for charity and donation. He cited examples of how high earning corporate executives and government servants gave up their jobs to start social work. He felt that the urge to work for the society is something very important that comes from within and hoped that the youths who are attending the summit would prove their participation fruitful as they would learn from each other and develop themselves.
The chief secretary also said states in Northeast were created to meet the aspiration of tribal, promote and protect the culture and traditions and way of life.
Talking about westernization, Tsering said states like Meghalaya have preserved their identity and culture though westernisation has been taking place. Urging the youth to maintain their identity, he said even if just two or three came out of lots, the movement for change will start.
Tsering lamented that the sense of community partnership and participation is gradually dying away and added that Northeast is failing to maintain the strong tribal traditions. He further encouraged youths to be productive and look for employment away from the usual government jobs and expressed hoped that the participanting youths would be the agents of change.
CAN Youth Chief Functionary Jenpu Rongmei in his key note address said that the summit was about coming together and bringing young NGOs amid renowned NGOs with corporations to see the possibilities of working together for the development of the region. He said the summit was started with the idea to bring all the young people who had started initiatives that were struggling with funding, pressure and failing.
The inaugural function also saw NGOs sharing their initiatives, challenges, struggles and work experiences.
The summit will have motivational speakers and panelist like MP Lok Sabha Varun Gandhi, Director Youth Net Nagaland Lezo Putsure, Editor of Eclectic Magazine Nasreen Habib, Senior Journalist Partho Chakraborty, and OSD Meghalaya Institute of Governance Aiban Swer, Director (Programs) National Foundation for India Monica Banerjee, Senior Journalist & Expert on India-Myanmar issue Bidhayak Das, Editor The Northeast Today Pradyot Manikya Deb Barman, Rosanna from Impulse NGO Network and Managing Editor of The North East Today Shweta Raj Kumar.
The summit will conclude on Oct. 15, with Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi.
Assistant Chief Functionary Levi V Sumi in a press release informed that the Summit was started last year in Dimapur to bring Non-Governmental Organizations in the Northeast that have been initiated and started by young people.
It provides a platform for these NGOs to pitch their initiatives and to discuss current challenges in the society. The summit is also aimed at connecting major youth leadership development organizations in a substantive open space.
