The 53rd national convention of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) concluded at specially created Tatya Tope Nagar in Kanpur on December 4. A total of 958 delegates from 479 places of the country participated in the convention, which had begun on December 1. Kanpur has been the land of Nana Saheb Peshwa, Tatya Tope and Rani Lakshmibai who sacrificed their everything in the 1857 war of Independence here. Keeping in view the 150th anniversary of the 1857 War of Independence, an exhibition had also been organised at the convention, which was inaugurated by Shri Yogendra Mohan Gupt, chairman of the Dainik Jagaran Group of newspapers. Shri Gupt while inaugurating the exhibition said no revolution could achieve success without self-discipline. He called upon the students to take an initiative wherever they see indiscipline.
A memorial had also been specially created at the venue of the convention. It had kalash carrying the holy soil from Jhansi, Panipat, Haldighati, Bairakpur and the places related to the 1857 War of Independence, which become a unique source of inspiration for all the youth attending the conference.
Inaugurating the convention, VHP president Shri Ashok Singhal described the Vidyarthi Kaal (student life) as the Sadhna Kaal. He said only politics should not be the ultimate goal of students, as politics has not been a successful tool to transform the society. He said students have very much strength and it should be used in constructive activities.
This year'sProf. Yeshwantrao Kelkar Youth Award was presented to Dr G. Satish Reddy of Andhra Pradesh for his outstanding contribution in the development of navigation system, which is a very important invention for the defence of the country. Shri Reddy was presented the youth award by Dr K.I. Basu, national president of Vijnan Bharati. The award consists of a citation, shawl and a cheque of Rs 25,000.
The conference had three important speeches delivered by Sahsarkaryavah of RSS Shri Suresh Soni on the relevance of 1857 War of Independence in present context. The second speech was delivered by Dr Ram Naresh Singh, national president of ABVP, on the role of students in the student movement. The third speech was delivered by Shri Dinesh Kumar, Kshetra Sangathanmantri of Paschim Uttar Madhya Kshetra. The conference also adopted four resolutions on wrong policies of the central government about higher education, present scenario of the country, problem of hostel for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes students and the declaration of Shri Ram Sethu as a national heritage site. The conference concluded with the speech of ABVP organising secretary Shri Sunil Ambekar.
Shri Ram Naresh Singh and Shri Suresh Bhatt also formally took over the charge as new national president and general secretary at the conference respectively. They have been re-elected on these posts for the year 2007-08. Dr Ram Naresh Singh is teaching Maithili at the Post Graduate Department in Bhupendra Narayan Mandal University, Saharasa, Bihar. He is associated with the ABVP for last the 18 years and has held various responsibilities as city president, Bihar state vice-president and Bihar state president and national vice president. He is well known for his deep study on national security. Shri Suresh Bhatt is basically from Nainital district of Uttarakhand. He has been a very active worker of ABVP in his college days and also held various responsibilities. (FOC)
