Emulate the ideals of Swami Vivekanand: Guv tells youth

Patna: The 153rd birth anniversary of Swami Vivekanand was celebrated as National Youth Day by different organisations here on Tuesday.
Governor Ram Nath Kovind and chief minister Nitish Kumar garlanded the portrait of Vivekanand and paid their tributes to the great social and spiritual leader at an official function held at S K Memorial Hall. Leaders of various political and social organisations attended the function.
Addressing a youth festival organised by Gayatri Parivar at Kankarbagh here, governor Kovind called upon the youth to emulate the ideals of Swami Vivekanand and work for all-round development of the society. He said the country has great expectations from the youth who constitute more than 60% of its population. Kovind said today’s youth are capable of realising their dreams and achieving desired goals. He added that women’s education alone can ensure all-round development of the society.
Speaking as the chief guest at a function organised by Patna University National Service Scheme at Wheeler Senate House to mark the day, PU vice chancellor Y C Simhadri said the life of Vivekanand is a great source of inspiration to our youth.
PU pro-VC R K Verma, registrar Sanjay Kumar Sinha, proctor G K Pillai and NSS programme coordinator Atul Aditya Pandey also paid their tributes to the spiritual leader.
A speech contest on the life and philosophy of Swami Vivekanand was also organized on the occasion in which Madhu Kumari Srivastava of Vanijya Mahavidyalaya bagged the first prize. Abhay Rana and Niti Priya of personnel management and industrial relations department bagged the second and third prizes, respectively.
Four former NSS coordinators of PU — Dharmshila Prasad, P K Poddar, N K Pandey and Rabindra Kumar — were felicitated on the occasion. A journal, ‘Samarpan’, brought out by the NSS unit of PU was also released on the occasion.
The National Youth Day was also celebrated with great enthusiasm by the students of Central University of South Bihar (CUSB). Various activities based on the life and teachings of Swami Vivekanand were presented by the students and a documentary on Vivekanand was screened. In a debate competition organised on the occasion, Wali Shabina, Nishant and Anurag were declared the winners.