The president of Assam Sahitya Sabha, Kuladhar Saikia, on Sunday said that they will be launching a lecture series by youngsters to encourage the youth into debates and discussions on topics of historic and contemporary relevance.
News Agency PTI reported him saying that the youngsters will present their perspectives and solutions on issues concerning the state at local level and with a global perspective. He said that the endeavour was to make the youth grasp societal problems and concerns through the lectures.
Mr. Saikia also said that the speakers will take a topic of their choice which is relevant to the state and speak on it for a short duration. The issues may range from floods and erosion problems in the state to climate change, taking the global perspective and connecting it to Assam.
The inaugural lectures of the series will be on the theme 'Swadesh Swabhiman' (My land, my pride), and a group of six youngsters will speak on the topic, among others, exploring the role of students in the pre-independence era, resources in the villages of the state and folk traditions lost to time.
Mr. Saikia also mentioned that similar lectures will be organized across all districts of the state in over 1500 branches, adding that the focus will be on holding it at the local level as far as possible.
He further said that the progress of the series will be monitored by the executive body of Sabha and any future endeavours like compiling the talks or making it available in other languages, will be taken after that.
Mr. Saikia, retired Director General of Assam Police, further said, "Debates and discourses with content and context are decreasing. We want to inspire the young people especially to engage them in terms of societal problems and resolving the issues", adding, "We want them to read and research, and instil pride about their roots, history and literature. Bringing similar-minded people together and expanding the reach of their thoughts through global networking is another objective of the initiative".
He also said that the Sabha is encouraging the use of mother tongue and other native languages of Assam and the need for languages with limited speakers to enter the digital domain is also being explored by the Sahitya Sabha.
