Bihar Young Thinkers Forum (BYTF) organised its first meet

New Delhi. To chart out the path for a new, resurgent Bihar, a group of Biharis from across India and the world, under the aegis of BYTF held its First Virtual Meet on the 13th and the 14th of June.

The talk sessions was organized in association with India Foundation and Bihar Jharkhand Association of North America (BJANA). Spread over four sessions, the Meeting was attended by more than 200 like-minded participants working in various sectors across India. The theme for Bihar Young Thinkers Meet, 2020 was “Bihar: The Road Ahead”.

The vmeet witnessed special addresses by senior political leaders, sportsperson, artists, thinkers and activists like Shri Ram Madhav, National General Secretary BJP, Shri Jayant Sinha, MP , Former Union Minister, Shri Nitish Mishra, Former Minister, Bihar, Prof. Sunaina Singh, VC, Nalanda University, Dr. Shamika Ravi, Director-research, Brookings India and Former Member, PM-EAC, Dr. Manisha Priyam, Eminent Social Thinker, Ms. Shreyasi Singh, Arjuna Awardee, Shri Vikas Vaibhav, D.I.G., Anti-terrorist Squad, Patna, Shri Shatrughna Sinha, IFS, Deputy C.G., Consulate of India in New York, Shri Rajesh Kumar, actor and agriculturist, Shri Kranti Prakash, actor and Shri Sheel Kumar, Film Producer to name a few, on the theme and sub-themes like Ideas & Institutions for New Bihar and so on.

The inaugural address on the 13th of June, 2020 was delivered by Shri Ram Madhav, National General Secretary, BJP and the valedictory address on the 14th of June, 2020 was delivered by Shri Jayant Sinha, Former Union Minister.

Schools and Hospitals in Bihar are the imminent necessary infrastructure that the state needs and which to an extent might prevent the brain drain- Ms Sunaina Singh, Vice Chancellor, Nalanda University.

The first day was divided into multiple sessions by different speakers and well-known moderators. The first session was Young Achievers and addressed by Ms. Shreyasi Singh, Arjuna Awardee and a Gold medallist in Olympics, Sh Vikas Vaibhav, D.I.G., ATS, Patna and Sh Kranti Prakash Jha, Actor. This Session was moderated by Sh Trivikram Narayan, Singh, M.D., Gopal Narayan Singh University.

Ms. Shreyasi Singh, who hails from Bihar, recounted her journey from a small place to a well known personality, also inspiring others to enter into the field of sports, especially women/girls. Sh Vikas Vaibhav in his interaction inspired the youth of Bihar to excel in every field while also encouraged them to have the feeling of immense pride calling themselves a Bihari. The third speaker Sh Kranti Prakash Jha, a famous celebrity appealed to the government of the State of Bihar, to finish the pending project of the studio in Rajgir so as to facilitate shooting of movies and tv serials in Bihar.

This was followed by an Open Session moderated by Sh. Abhishek Ranjan who runs a research and policy firm in New Delhi, the session had few selected participants who interacted in the meet via Power point presentations and made some really interesting points about the challenges and problems that Bihar faces as well as gave suggestions how to overcome the same.

The second session of the Day started with the theme ‘Women led Leadership: Learnings from the Ground’ moderated by Ms Shubhrastha, author and columnist wherein, Ms. Sugandha Munshi (International Rice Research Institute, Patna) and Ms. Pratima Paswan (Founder, Gaurav Gramin Mahila Vikas Manch, Bihar) guided the participants on aspects related to women empowerment and social change using their experience at the grassroot levels.

Thereafter, session’s next theme was ‘Pathways for New Bihar’ moderated by Mrs Parul Prasad, a promising Advocate in Patna High Court, and the speakers of the session were Sh Nitish Mishra, former Minister, Bihar, Prof. Shamika Ravi, former member of the Prime Minister Economic Advisory Council and Sh. Shatrughna Sinha, IFS, Deputy C.G. Consulate of India in New York.

Prof. Shamika Ravi made a powerful presentation on how to “Make Bihar Great Again”, and suggested her valuable inputs. She also emphasized on the need of continuing Smart city plans which is required in Bihar for push infrastructure and economy.

We should never leave our roots and always promote the usage of our own mother tongue: Kranti Prakash Jha

The last theme of discussion was ‘Ideas and Institutions for New Bihar’ moderated by Sh Abhinandan Mishra, Journalist, The Sunday Guardian, and Ms. Sunaina Singh, the VC of Nalanda University, was the speaker of the session who answered that Schools and Hospitals in Bihar are the imminent necessary infrastructure that the state needs and which to an extent might prevent the brain drain.

On Day two, Sh. Rajesh Kumar, in the session on ‘Routes to Roots’ moderated by Sh. Apurv Mishra, Senior Fellow, India Foundation inspired the participants to do something related to their passion in their state Bihar, they need not leave their profession. He recounted a life-changing experience while working on Rally with Rivers when he came across a dying river near his fields. Sh. Sheel Kumar attended the session as a speaker and visualising the immense development potential of Bihar called upon the students and their parents to move beyond the conventional career and pursue their passion in less chartered territories. Dr. Manisha Priyam, while narrating the cultural and artistic richness of Bihar, mourned for the loss of these in today’s age. Attributing this to political and economic reasons, she invoked the young generation to listen to “Maati ki pukaar” and rekindle life into the heritage of Bihar. She explained the way forward for breaking the stereotypes for a Bihari woman, to be creative and give their best in whatever they did, that will give them recognition and bring name to Bihar.

Envisioning the latent development potential in Bihar and its competitive cost advantage, Sh. Jayant Sinha in his valedictory address explained three sectors which need investment namely – IT Sector, Medicine & Healthcare, and Dairy Industry. Invoking the Elite Biharis, he gave the mantra – ‘Come back & Contribute’ and urged to focus on contributing to Bihar by focussing on creating quality education imparting Educational Institutions and Engaging in Politics with a Vision for Vikas. Session was moderated by Sh. Pratyush Prabhakar, advisor to Union Minister Sh. Dharmendra Pradhan.

The two days’ meet witnessed an extensive conversation on Bihar-centric issues with a constructive & solution-oriented approach. The policy prescription and deliverables suggested by the participants through their participants will be examined and also be submitted to the government for appropriate action.

BYTF intends to create a platform for an informal and freewheeling discussion on various issues that our state faces today intending to create leaders who believe to bring a change in the Society. Health, education, infrastructure, public policy and politics in general and in its minutest facet that affects the life of the citizens and the development of the state shall be myriad topics of discussion.

Although the meet ended today, BYTF in due course will act as an advocacy group that will participate through effective legislative interventions through a consultative and collaborative dialogue with the real stakeholders of Bihar.

At last we would like to introduce our core committee members who worked energetically to make it a successful event Sh. Guru Prakash, Sh. Ratnesh Kushwaha, Sh. Trivikram Narayan Singh, Sh. Abhishek Ranjan, Ms. Parul Prasad, Ms. Roopsa Das and Sh. Vikas Mehta.