HAILAKANDI, Dec 21 - Under the Ek Bharat, Shrestha Bharat programme of Nehru Yuva Kendra, a declamation contest on �Patriotism and Nation Building� was held at the Officers� Recreation Centre here on Monday.
Altogether, 12 male and female contestants belonging to the age group of 18-29 from different blocks of the district participated. Lalrongboll Saihriam of Hailakandi secured the first position and was selected for the State-level competition to be held in Guwahati. The State-level topper will get an opportunity to compete at the national level.
Saihriam was awarded a cash prize of Rs 5,000 along with a certificate. Jakir Hussain Mazumdar of Lala and Tuli Sutradhar of Hailakandi secured the second and third positions respectively and were awarded cash prizes amounting to Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 along with certificates. The judges in the competition were Dr Paritosh Chandra Dutta, Satananda Bhattacharjee and Dr Mithun Nath.
At the outset, the district youth coordinator of Nehru Yuva Kendra (NYK), Sekhar Ranjan Deb elaborately explained the purpose of organising the declamation contest and said that patriotism in the real sense requires one to abide by the law, which in turn helps in nation-building. He felt such contests are instrumental in shape the mindset and boosting the morale and confidence of the youths.
All the speakers at the inaugural session talked about the concept of nation-building and urged the young generation to follow the path shown by Swami Vivekananda in regard to patriotism and nation-building.
The prize-giving ceremony was also addressed by Sekhar Ranjan Deb, secretary of Hailakandi Press Club, Amit Ranjan Das, Dr Paritosh Chandra Dutta, Dr Mithun Nath and Satananda Bhattacharjee. It was conducted by Ramendu Bhattacharjee of NYK. The judges summed up the contest and urged the contestants to participate in such competitions frequently in order to gather experience and also for developing their inner thinking process.