NIT Srinagar hosts 3-day screening of EBSB aspirants from J&K and Ladakh

Srinagar, Feb 29: National Institute of Technology Srinagar (NIT), designated as the Nodal Centre for the Union Territories (UTs) of Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh, concluded a three-day screening program on Thursday for aspiring students of the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) initiative.

This initiative is part of the EBSB 2024 campaign by the Ministry of Education, facilitating the exchange of students from paired institutes across the country.

The institute had constituted 6 members screening cum selection committee for Yuva Sangam Phase-IV including Prof. Seemin Rubab (Physics), Dr. Yashwant Mehta (MMED), Dr. Gausia Qazi (E&C Eng), Dr. Yogesh Pandey (SKUAST-K), Dr. Salma Khan (GDC Ganderbal) and Dr. Eshrat Ara (GDW- MA Road).

Director NIT Srinagar, Prof. A. Ravinder Nath congratulated the selected students and stated that the objective of the Yuva Sangam initiative, aims to connect youth from across India through sustained cultural exchange programs. The selected students will get exposure outside J&K and Ladakh, he added.

Institute’s Registrar Prof. Atikur Rahman said that these exposure tours offer students invaluable opportunities to directly experience and comprehend diverse cultures.

As per official figures, NIT Srinagar received 1892 applications from the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh. Among them, 45 students have been selected for the EBSB 2024 program during the three-day screening program concluded on Thursday, and an additional 5 volunteers will accompany the selected students.

The Nodal officers for this program include Dr. Ranjeet Kumar Rout, Dr. Mohd Mohsin Khan, Dr. Nitika Kundan, and Dr. Sumaira Jan, while Dr. Pankaj Kumar and Dr. Mohd Rafiq Teli are the Social Media Officer, and PR Officer respectively.

Under this initiative, 45 native students from Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh (UTs) will have the opportunity to visit Maharashtra. During these visits, Food, travel, and accommodation charges for the students will be borne by the host institutes.

PR Officer of EBSB, Dr. Mohd Rafiq Teli said NIT Srinagar is nominated as the nodal institution for Phase IV for J&K and Ladhak UT.

Briefing about the details, Dr. Rafiq said the screening cum selection process concluded for EBSB2024 at NIT Srinagar. Among a total of 1892 candidates, 45 students have been selected for the exposure tour, he said.

“The selection process involved eliminating ineligible participants based on various parameters. It included identifying duplicate entries, individuals who had already undertaken the Yuva Sangam-I/II/III tour, those without proof of Covid Vaccination, candidates not actively involved in any extracurricular activities or lacking a local domain of interest, and participants who had already traveled outside of their domicile state, etc” Dr. Rafiq said.

The MOE has directed NIT Srinagar to collaborate with the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology Nagpur (VNIT Nagpur) Maharashtra as a paired institution for this programme.

In the Yuva Sangam phase IV, the participants from the paired institutes will be exchanged under the Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat (EBSB) campaign of the Ministry of Education.

Under this exchange programme, participants will get the opportunity for multi-dimensional exposure under five broad areas 5 Ps i.e. Paryatan (Tourism), Parampara (Traditions), Pragati (Development), Prodyogik (Technology), and Paraspar Sampark (People-to-people connect).