‘Corruption, unemployment country’s foes’

CHANDIGARH: Punjab finance minister

Manpreet Singh Badal

on Thursday said that youth has the power to change anything and can be instrumental in making India free from corruption, unemployment, poverty and drug-free society. He was speaking at the inauguration ceremony of the 34th north zone inter-university youth festival here at

Panjab University

on Thursday.


“The real enemies of our country are corruption, poverty, lack of access to education, housing and unemployment. We have to defeat these enemies. India will be a super power one day and there is no doubt about it. You are the make and break generation and you will contribute to make India one of the greatest countries,” said Badal.

Emphasising that the next generation has to contribute to make India the greatest country, Badal quoted famous Urdu poet Faiz Ahmad Faiz and said, “ Jis dhaj se koi maktal me gya, jis dhaj se koi maqtal mein gaya vo shaan salamat rahti hai.” Further quoting Faiz, he said, “ Gar baazi ishq ki baazi hai jo chahe laga do dar kaisa, gar jiit gaye to kya kahna haare bhi to baazi maat nahin.”

The minister urged the youth to be good human beings which is important in making India a super power. He said that the next generation of the country should join hands in changing the fate of the country irrespective of language, creed, colour, caste and religion.

David Sampson, joint secretary, Youth Affairs, AIU in his address said that inter-university youth fest is a saga, story of the unifest family and is the biggest festival in the entire world. He informed that the youth festival has come a long way since 1985 when it was started with the objective of spreading love, peace and joy to the entire country.

Prof Shankarji Jha, dean of university instructions and officiating vice-chancellor, PU in his address talked in detail about close relationship between culture and value. He also talked about the domain of aesthetics i.e. sahitya (literature), sangeet (music) and kala (arts).

Earlier, in his welcome address, Dr Nirmal Jaura, director, youth welfare, PU said that participation in the fest is more important than the trophies. It helps in personality development. He urged the youth to groom their personality in such a way so that they shine like the sun.

The day started with the cultural procession before the inaugural function, which started from the Department of Sports and culminated at the Law Auditorium, PU. The contingents were in their best attire carried the flag of their respective university. Each contingent performed for two minutes outside the Law Auditorium.

More than 1,300 students from 35 universities of the Northern Region of the country with a contingent of 40 each, are participating in this festival. The fest is dedicated to the 550th birth anniversary of

Guru Nanak

Dev.