Question : National Youth Festival

(a) whether the Government has organized 23rd National Youth Festival recently and if so, the details thereof along with the theme of the festival;
(b) the number of youths participated in the said programmes/events and the number of programmes organized during the festival;
(c) whether organizing such a festival help to provide a platform to interact and exchange the social and culture uniqueness and if so, the details thereof;
(d) the details of number of such festivals organized during each of the last three years and the number of youth benefited out of such festival; and
(e) the steps taken by the Government to build a platform to bring the youth together?

THE MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) FOR YOUTH AFFAIRS AND SPORTS (SHRI KIREN RIJIJU)

(a) Yes, The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports in collaboration with Government of Uttar Pradesh has organized the 23rd National Youth Festival from 12th to 16th January, 2020 at Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. The theme of the Festival was FIT YOUTH FIT INDIA.
(b) 7174 youths from different part of the country participated in the 23rd National Youth Festival. 18 competitive and 6 noncompetitive events, besides opening and closing ceremony were organized during the festival.
(c) Yes, various events such as Folk Dance, Folk Song, Classical Dance (Manipuri, Oddissi, Bharatnatyam, Kathak and Kuchipuddi), Classical Vocal Solo (Hindustani and Carnatic), Classical Instrumental Solo (Sitar, Flute, Tabla, Veena and Mrigdangam), Harmonium (Light) and Guitar provided an opportunity for the participants of the festival to interact and exchange the social and cultural uniqueness. Organization of Food Festival, Yuva Kriti and Cultural evenings also provided cross cultural exchange.
(d) The details of number of such festival organized during each of the last three years is as under: -
<pre>Sr. No
Year Venue Theme No. of Participants
1 2017 Rohtak, Haryana
Youth for Digital India 7500
2 2018 Grater Noida, Uttar Pradesh
Sankalp se Siddhi 3456
3 2019 In the year 2019, the National Youth Festival was merged with National Youth Parliament Festival and
was organized from 12th January to 27th February, 2019 </pre>

(e) The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, besides organizing such festivals, also provides financial assistance to State Governments, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan and voluntary organizations to conduct State Level Youth Festival and other programmes such as National Integration camps, Inter State Youth Exchange Programmes and Multi-Cultural Activities. Participation in such festival and camps promotes spirit of national integration, unity in diversity and induces a sense of social harmony amongst the youth thus bringing the youth together.
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