GUWAHATI:
North East Graduate Congress (NEGC), the most acclaimed flagship programme of the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya (USTM) will commence for the seventh time from April 7 to 9.
“More than 10,000 students from 300 colleges spread across the Northeast are expected to take part in the mega event,” USTM pro-vice-chancellor Dr Balendra Kumar Das said addressing a press conference at Guwahati Press Club on March 30.
“This mega youth event will be inaugurated and commence on April 8 and end by the morning of April 9. On April 7, all outstation students will arrive at USTM and do the registration,” Das said.
The three-day-long event is organized to benefit the region’s youths by helping them set their vision so that they can shoulder responsibilities and contribute to nation-building.
“The event aims at inculcating the spirit of competitiveness, regional integrity, social harmony and brotherhood among the youths and it will be graced by a galaxy of prominent personalities ranging from youth icons, intellectuals, academia, cultural and sports icons, politicians, motivational speakers and many more. Prizes worth Rs 50 lakh will be awarded to the winners of various competitions in the event,” Das also said.
Various co-curricular activities have been organised. The cultural competitions include cultural showcasing, skits, group dances, on-the-spot painting, mehendi, group songs, cartooning, photography and rangoli. The sports competitions are volleyball, kabaddi, chess, arm wrestling, powerlifting, badminton, basketball, and horse riding.
The literary competitions include debates and quizzes. The topic for the debate competition is “Globalization has posed a threat to the economy”. There will be competitions on start-ups and innovation, too. The special attraction of the event is the job fair.
Special sessions will be held such as a panel discussion on “Role of Youths Towards Atmanirbhar Bharat”, apart from sessions on “Youth and Entrepreneurship”, “Personality development and soft skills” and “Competitive Examinations” where experts in the respective fields will address the youths.
“All students studying at the undergraduate level are eligible to participate in the competitions.
Attractive awards, including two-wheelers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones and cash prizes will be given to the winners of different competitions. Special attractions in the award category are: ‘Best Performing College-2023’ and ‘Best Magazine Award-2023′. All the students will be awarded Certificates of Participation,” he said.
NEGC is a unique confluence of the students’ community at the undergraduate level initiated by USTM Chancellor Mahbubul Hoque, which is held annually under the aegis of USTM.
The main thrust of NEGC is to facilitate the aspiring and budding youth to have direct interactive sessions with renowned academicians, educationists, industrialists and entrepreneurs of national and international repute in a single platform enabling them to shape and mould their career to befit the emerging needs of modern technologies and move towards new horizons for a self-reliant and developed India.
Teachers or coordinators from different colleges or institutions select the students and forward the names to the organizers through registration. All participants attending the Congress are required to fill in a registration form and submit it to the organizing secretary, NEGC.
ISTM PRO Dr Rani Pathak Das, principal secretary Dr Mehjabeen Rahman and head of the Department of Business Administration, Dr Rashmi Baruah were also present at the press conference.