SRINAGAR: Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha on Tuesday called for greater access to education, technology, entrepreneurship, sports and cultural opportunities for youth living in Jammu and Kashmir’s border areas.
Addressing a felicitation ceremony for meritorious students organised by Wadies Hindi Shiksha Samiti in collaboration with the Jammu Kashmir Academy of Art, Culture and Languages, Sinha said development would be meaningful when children in border villages could pursue their aspirations with confidence.
“The real development of Jammu Kashmir will come when a child in our border villages can say with confidence, ‘I can fulfil my dreams’,” he said, describing children and youth in border areas as talented and courageous.
Sinha outlined five areas for youth empowerment in border regions: education and technology, employment and entrepreneurship, sports and culture, access to opportunities, and guidance and mentorship.
He called for smart classrooms, digital libraries and skill-development opportunities to be extended to remote villages. He also urged authorities to create avenues for young people in handicrafts, horticulture, agriculture, tourism and local industries so that they could become job creators rather than only job seekers.
“Our youth should not lag behind those living in any metro city of the country,” he said, calling for scholarships, digital platforms, training programmes and national and international competition opportunities to be made accessible to border youth.
The LG also stressed the importance of mentorship and asked officials to facilitate visits by professionals from Jammu and Kashmir to interact with children in border areas at least twice a year or provide guidance through programmes in Srinagar and Jammu.
Speaking about language and culture, Sinha said the mother tongue was linked to identity, memory and cultural sensibility. He said Jammu and Kashmir’s linguistic diversity reflected the region’s shared cultural heritage and noted that the National Education Policy emphasised early education in the mother tongue and Indian languages.
“Our young generation is the torchbearer of India’s tradition of knowledge and culture,” he said, urging students to remain connected with their language and heritage while embracing science, technology, entrepreneurship and modern knowledge.
Sinha congratulated the meritorious students and appreciated the efforts of Wadies Hindi Shiksha Samiti in promoting the Hindi language. He said students should turn their abilities into responsibility and use their talent to create opportunities for others.
Principal Secretary, Culture Department Brij Mohan Sharma, Commissioner Secretary, School Education Department Ram Niwas Sharma, Divisional Commissioner Kashmir Anshul Garg, SSP Srinagar GV Sundeep Chakravarthy, Deputy Commissioner Srinagar Akshay Labroo and Secretary JKAACL Harvinder Kour were among those present.
Representatives of Wadies Hindi Shiksha Samiti, Shiksha Sanskriti Utthan Nyas and Vaishvik Hindi Parivar, besides heads of educational institutions, teachers and students of Army Goodwill Schools and Kendriya Vidyalayas, also attended the event.
