Guwahati, January 23: North East Graduate Congress (NEGC)—the most acclaimed flagship programme of the University of Science & Technology Meghalaya (USTM) will commence for the eighth time from 21st to 23rd February this year with an expected participation of 10,000 students from about 300 colleges spread across the North East.
The competitions of this mega youth event will begin from 21st February and the event will come to an end with valedictory and prize distribution on 23rd February.
Also, nearly 25 regionally as well as nationally famous cultural icons will be performing for the youths on 22nd February at USTM in a show titled “One Day Just for You”.
In this regard, a press conference was organised today at Guwahati Press Club which was addressed by Dr Balendra Kumar Das, Pro Vice Chancellor, Dr Rani Pathak Das, Public Relations Officer, Dr Mehjabeen Rahman, Principal Secretary, and Rishiparna Choudhury, Assistant Director Students Welfare, USTM.
Addressing the media, Dr Rani Pathak Das said, “The three-day-long event is organized to benefit the region’s youths by helping them set their vision so that they can shoulder responsibilities and contribute to nation-building”.
The event aims at inculcating the spirit of competitiveness, regional integrity, social harmony and brotherhood among the youths and it will be graced by a galaxy of prominent personalities ranging from youth icons, intellectuals, academia, cultural and sports icons, politicians, motivational speakers and many more. Prizes worth Rs 50 lakh will be awarded to the winners of various competitions in the event, she added, according to a Press release.
Dr Balendra Kumar Das stated that in the 8th edition of NEGC, various co-curricular activities have been organised. The competitions include cultural, quiz, debate, sports, fine arts & innovation and business ideathon. While the cultural competitions include cultural showcasing by different colleges, group dance, group song etc., there are also competitions like on-spot painting, extempore speech, photography and reel making. The sports competitions include: power-lifting, arm wrestling, chess, horse riding, volleyball, basketball, kabaddi and badminton. Topic for the debate competition is “NEP is a Game Changer”. Special attraction of the event is the Job Fair.
Special sessions will be held such as, a Panel Discussion on “Role of Youth: India 2047”, apart from sessions on “Youth and Entrepreneurship”, “Personality development and soft skills” and “Competitive Examinations” where experts in the respective fields will address the youths.
Dr Mehjabeen Rahman said, “All students studying at the undergraduate level from institutions in North East India are eligible to participate in the competitions. Attractive awards, including two-wheelers, laptops, tablets, mobile phones and cash prizes will be given to the winners of different competitions”. “Special attractions in the award category are: ‘Best Graduate’, ‘Best Performing College’ and ‘Best Magazine Award’ and ‘Best Disciplined College’. All the students will be awarded Certificates of Participation”, stated Rishiparna Choudhury.
NEGC is a unique confluence of the students’ community at the undergraduate level initiated by Shri Mahbubul Hoque, Chancellor, USTM, which is held annually under the aegis of USTM. The main thrust of NEGC is to facilitate the aspiring and budding youth to have direct interactive sessions with renowned academicians, educationists, industrialists and entrepreneurs of national and international repute in a single platform enabling them to shape and mould their career to befit the emerging needs of modern technologies and move towards new horizons for a self-reliant and developed India.
Teachers or Coordinators from different colleges or institutions select the students and forward the names to the organizers through registration. All participants attending the Congress are required to fill in a registration form and submit to the organizing secretary, NEGC. For details, interested participants can contact 70022-38835 / 84728-29078/ 98647-77799 / 86386-86373 / 94352-84039 / 81348-84439 or log on to www.ustm.ac.in. The last date of online registration is 12th February 2025 and the registration form for NEGC-2025 is available in USTM website.