Inauguration of Youth Festival at Sevagram

 

Society for Rural, Urban and Tribal Initiatives( SRUTI), New Delhi  organized the   Youth festival as a culmination of  School of Social Change programme  in the premises of Sevagram Ashram from  16 to 18 June 2023. All the participants came to the venue of the meeting with a rally representing different organizations participating in the youth fest with banners and colourful flags showing India’s cultural diversity.  

The speakers in the inaugural session held on  june 16, 2023 briefly talked about the programme  and  SRUTI's  40 years of collective social action  and School of Social Change.  Dr. Siby K. Joseph , Director, Sri Jamnalal Bajaj Memorial Library and Research Centre for Gandhian Studies, Sevagram Ashram Pratishthan  welcomed all delegates on behalf of the Ashram .  He said the premises of Sevagram Ashram is the best place to discuss social transformation and from the deliberations in the session it was clear the main focus is social transformation.  He said social change and social transformation are different.  Change can be positive or negative. Transformation refers to the change in the positive direction. Therefore it would be more appropriate to call it the School of Social transformation.  He explained  briefly the  history of the Ashram and the role played by the Ashram in the socio-political and economic revival under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi during India's struggle for independence . 

Shri Arvind Anjum, a fellow of  SRUTI, speaking on the occasion said this area also represents altogether different ideology which opposes the Gandhian stream as Nagpur is the headquarters of RSS. Also in Nagpur we have   Deekshabhoomi  where Dr. B. R. Ambedkar and  his followers embraced Buddhism.   The organizers expressed gratitude to all dignitaries present on the inaugural session . The various   workshop sessions were held in the museum premises of the Ashram.