A delegation of 50 students from varied higher education institutions from Gujarat like IIT Gandhinagar, SVNIT Surat, Central University of Gujarat, and many more reached IIIT Kottayam, Kerala as a part of the fifth phase of the Govt’s. ambitious cultural and educational endeavour the ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat YuvaSangam’ programme.

While IIT Gandhinagar is the nodal institute from Gujarat, IIIT Kottayam is the nodal institute from Kerala.The delegate members will stay in Kerala from 1st-5^th Dec 2024. Upon reaching, the student delegate was welcomed by IIIT Kottayam team.

Through this visit, the emphasis will be on increasing the exchange of rich culture, tradition and ideas between the two states. Further promotion of tourism, tradition, progress, technology and mutual contact are also part of the agenda.

As part of the itinerary, the student delegate will visit the residences of locals to explore their culture. Secondly, they will visit Kadappatoor temple, Ettumanoor temple, Manarcad church, vaikom temple and also explore the rubber industry as kottayam is famous for rubber plantation.

The student delegate will also visit Agro Park and explore the largest archaeological museum in the state. They will also interact with Padmashree Awardees and will visit ancient buildings, riverside cottages and beautiful scenes on the way to Alleppy. A few cultural programs have also been planned for them.

Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi had proposed the idea for a sustained people-to-people connect during the Rashtriya Ekta Divas held on 31st October 2015 to commemorate the birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Subsequently, Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) programme was launched on 31st October 2016, in order to promote engagement and mutual understanding between people of different states and union territories.  

Twenty eminent institutions across India have been identified for Phase V of Yuva Sangam during which participants from these states/ UTs, led by the nodal higher education institute (HEI) of the state/UT, respectively, will be visiting their paired state/ UTs. Yuva Sangam will promote multi-dimensional exposure in five broad areas – the 5 Ps viz; Paryatan (Tourism), Parampara (Traditions), Pragati (Development), Paraspar Sampark (People-to-people connect), and Prodyogiki (Technology). 

The previous phases of Yuva Sangam have witnessed massive enthusiasm with registrations crossing 44,000 in the last Phase. Till date, 4,795 youth across India have participated in 114 tours in various phases of Yuva Sangam (including the pilot phase in 2022).