Union Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Dr. Mansukh Mandaviya on Friday said the government aims to take MY Bharat to every district, block and young citizen across the country, as the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports began a two-day Chintan Shivir at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Shillong to strengthen grassroots youth engagement and improve programme delivery.
The deliberations brought together officials from the Department of Youth Affairs, MY Bharat and the National Service Scheme (NSS) to discuss strategies for expanding youth participation and advancing the vision of Viksit Bharat through youth-led development initiatives.
Addressing the inaugural session, Dr. Mandaviya said MY Bharat had evolved into a major national movement with over 2.17 crore youth volunteers participating under the platform.
“Today, with 2.17 crore youth volunteers, MY Bharat has emerged as a national movement of Jan Bhagidari. Our goal is to take MY Bharat to every district, every block, and every young citizen to ensure true last-mile connectivity,” he said.
The Minister stressed that National Youth Volunteers should emerge as community leaders and youth mobilisers at the grassroots level and highlighted the role of District Youth Officers and NSS officers in strengthening the youth development ecosystem. He said programme success should be measured through tangible outcomes and impact on communities.
Dr. Mandaviya also announced a nationwide anti-drug campaign to be held from June 26 to August 15 and programmes in 150 educational institutions to commemorate 150 years of Vande Mataram. Reiterating the government’s commitment to establishing MY Bharat Centres in all 783 districts, he called on states to share successful models and best practices to improve implementation.
Highlighting the Northeast’s importance in India’s youth development agenda, the Minister urged greater integration of youth from the region into national initiatives.
Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Raksha Nikhil Khadse said the Chintan Shivir aimed to create a collaborative platform where officers could exchange ideas, field experiences and best practices to strengthen youth-focused programmes across the country.
“The objective of this Chintan Shivir is to bring officers together to share ideas, best practices and field-level experiences so that we can collectively work towards the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047 through the power of our youth,” she said.
Khadse said the Northeast’s strong sports culture and active youth club network represented a major opportunity for national youth development programmes. She also stressed the need for closer coordination between state governments, district administrations and youth officers for effective implementation of initiatives and wider outreach of the MY Bharat Portal.
Secretary, Department of Youth Affairs, Dr. Pallavi Jain Govil, said the discussions were focused on identifying implementation challenges, sharing field experiences and generating practical solutions that could be replicated across states.
Additional Secretary Nitesh Kumar Mishra said the recommendations emerging from previous editions of the Chintan Shivir had already translated into actionable reforms and underlined the need for a National Volunteering Policy to formally recognise and measure the contribution of MY Bharat and NSS volunteers.
The first day of the event featured discussions on transformational leadership, digital youth engagement, volunteering opportunities, youth club best practices and institutional strengthening under MY Bharat and NSS.
Representatives from Assam, West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand and Manipur presented successful models related to youth mobilisation, volunteering and community engagement, facilitating cross-learning among participants.
The Ministry said the deliberations would focus on strengthening institutional coordination, improving programme impact and developing actionable solutions for effective implementation of youth-centric initiatives across India.
