Young leaders from northeast gather in Delhi to discuss prospects for development

In order to highlight the rich prospects of development in the northeast and to discuss various issues concerning growth in the region, young leaders and achievers from the northeast recently came together in New Delhi.

There is a huge scope for development in the Northeast and the maximum potential of the region can be explored only through collective effort.

So recently, under the theme of "A strong Northeast is India's asset", the fourth edition of the Young Leaders Connect programme brought together several leaders and achievers from the Northeast at the India Habitat Center in the capital.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, footballer Baichung Bhutia, senior Delhi Police officers and several northeast activists, students, entrepreneurs and politicians were present at the event.

"So many achievers from different field have come together and are sharing their minds. This is very important and it will be useful for the northeast region. We will connect with each other more. Northeast region must be united and fight for our cause, understand the issues and solve the problems," said Rijiju.

"People look at Northeast as one while in reality it is just a geographically positioned region. So we thought why not take advantage of this and make sure that we come together in reality and fight for our cause, face the challenges, the strengths and weaknesses together. We started Young Leaders Connect in 2011 where we got young leaders and achievers from the Northeast to come together, first of all to connect with ourselves, to build friendship amongst ourselves, to strengthen ourselves and to see how we can take Northeast to the next level," said Hekani Jakhalu, director, Youthnet.

An initiative of YouthNet, a non-profit organization based in Nagaland, the conclave was started with an aim to develop greater awareness and understanding of issues affecting the development of the region.

The day-long conclave gave a platform to eminent achievers from a variety of fields to interact with each other and deliberate on various issues related to the region through panel discussions and interactive sessions.

"The element of bringing in all of us together, who are leaders in their own right, who are representing a wide range of work and activities, whether it's from politics or sports or films, arts, or development work like mine or social entrepreneurs, helps to make the voice of the region more collective and this collective voice is that northeast has diverse activities happening, diverse leadership and also the leadership happens to be vibrant. And a platform helps us to shape what northeast has to say to different parts of India and it also helps in integration nationally," said social activist Hasina Karbhih.

"It is a very interesting conference and it is good because students and people get a platform to express ourselves. And such educated people share their ideas which are very important for development. It was a very enlightening event," said Omily Borang, a student.

Delhi Police Commissioner B.S. Bassi and National security advisor Ajit Doval also made an appearance at the programme to address the safety concerns of the Northeastern people.

Events like this serve as a platform to bring people together to exchange ideas and address various issues concerning the region's development.