NYKS and Dhaga organizes Seminar For Fit India and Mental Health; Launched Sanitary Napkins for Underprivileged

On the occasion of 73rd Republic Day of the largest democracy in the world, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanghatan in association with Dhaga, Azadi ka Amroot Mahotsav and Swachcha Bharat Abhiyan, organised a seminar at Ellora Heritage Hall on Thursday. Resource persons from various institutes spoke on “Training of Youth in Youth Wellness, Positive Life Style and Fit India”. There was also footfall of students from various schools and colleges who attended the socially distanced session.

The seminar began at 11 in the morning with a welcome address by Tanika Das, the President of Dhaga. She highlighted the importance and significance of the day and the values of this seminar. On behalf of Nehru Yuva Kendra Sanghatan (NYKS), Mehbub Alam Laskar, the Deputy Director of NYKS has also highlighted, “It’s high time we highlight the values of fit India and reach every youth of this nation. NYKS has been constantly working on this and we highly value the role Dhaga and it’s team is playing. Today’s youth needs to understand the values of proud Indians and be productive in society.”

In the technical session of the seminar, the invited guest speaker from Disha Foundation Rehabilitation Centre, Silchar, the founder Jayanta Choudhury spoke on “Drug Abuse and Prevention”. Addressing the youth populace, he said, “I was an alcoholic myself and I know the worst of it. I’ve been clean for the last 8 years and that’s what we’ve been working on for so many years. Earlier the trend was very different, it was mostly adults with alcoholism but now it’s as young as 8 year old, injecting drugs. The price of drugs has come down substantially making it easily accessible. Our assessment says that there won’t be any youth populace after 10 years if this goes on.” He has also highlighted early signs of an addict and how they’ve been helping addicts to overcome addiction and lead a clean and healthy life.

Following him was Juhi Deb, lecturer from Ramanuj Gupta Senior Secondary School who spoke on “Hygiene and Sanitation”. She highlighted the importance of living a clean and neat life and especially with the ongoing pandemic how it has become even more important. As a lecturer of Zoology, she highlighted scientific evidence in a visual presentation. In her presentation she said, “We can create barriers between diseases and us just by being clean and hygienic”. The speaker has also highlighted how different diseases are borne and how they transmit in different mediums. Following her was the next speaker, Sangsmita Nath Mazarbhuiya, a student of MSc,Zoology of Assam University, Silchar,who presented on “Reproductive Health and Reproductive Hygiene”, which highlighted on removing the social stigma related to reproduction. In her presentation she mentioned, “Sex and reproduction is still considered taboo concept in our Indian society but it is so natural and nothing to be ashamed about.” Her presentation included diagrammatic representation of the human reproductive system and the interactive session was aimed at making young minds more free to talk and learn about it safely and not from some shady sources.

On “Mental Health and Wellbeing” an anecdotal presentation was given by Meghadeepa Deb, a post graduate student of Assam University, Silchar. “Mental Health is not about being a lunatic, it’s there within almost everyone. 8 out of 10 people suffer from mental health issues. We don’t get safe spaces to talk about it or we stay in denial, but it should not be avoided.” Highlighting her personal life experiences, she spoke at length about it and also gave practical solutions of self-care and mindfulness. The last speaker was Ananya Dutta, a teacher from Cachar High School, who spoke on COVID-19 and other infections. The visual and interactive presentation highlighted the ways how COVID has affected our lives and how we can get out of it. “Immunity is there among all of us, not in the same proportion but it can be strengthened using simple methods and good habits.” She has mentioned the importance of vaccination and urged all the eligible members to get jabbed as soon as possible.

In the session Dhaga has also launched their self-made sanitary napkins, which they plan to distribute for free among the underprivileged sections who can’t afford pads. The product was launched in presence of the guest speakers, Dr Devipreeta Dutta Gupta, a professor of Zoology from GC College, founder of Dhaga, Pritam Roy and other members of the NGO. The session ended with a vote of thanks from Shyamashis Choudhury and the raising of the National Anthem.