The Asam Sahitya Sabha is launching a series of lectures by youngsters for encouraging the new generation to engage in debates and discourses on topics with historic as well as contemporary relevance, its president Kuladhar Saikia said on Sunday.

The youngsters will be presenting their take on issues concerning the state at the local level as well as with a global perspective, while putting forth their solutions, he said.

Talking to the PTI, the president of the premier literary organisation said: “The basic purpose of this initiative is to encourage the new generation to get an understanding, right from their formative years, of their roots as well as what is happening around the globe and how it impacts them.

“This generation is a fast-paced one and our endeavour is to make them grasp societal problems and concerns through these talks.”

Saikia, a former IPS officer said, young girls and boys would be speaking on topics of their choice relevant to the state for a short duration of time with issues ranging from flood and erosion problems of the state to climate change at the global level and its impact on Assam.

The inaugural lectures of the series, Swadesh Swabhiman (My land, my pride), will be delivered by a group of six youngsters here on Sunday on topics exploring the role of students in the pre-Independence era, resources in the villages of the state and folk traditions lost to time, among others.

“We shall be organising similar lectures across all districts in the state with our branches, numbering over 1,500, to hold it at the local levels as far as possible,” Saikia said.

He said the executive body of the Sabha would evaluate the progress of the series after two months and the decision on whether to compile the talks or make it available in different languages would be taken then.

“Debates and discourses with content and context are decreasing. We want to inspire the young people especially to engage them in terms of societal problems and resolving the issues,” Saikia, who had retired as the director-general of Assam Police, said.

“We want them to read and research, and instil pride about their roots, history, literature,” he added.

Bringing similar-minded people together and expanding the reach of their thoughts through global networking is another objective of the initiative, Saikia said.

“Today’s youngsters are very well networked. We hope to explore these connections to link their thoughts and views at a global scale,” he said. PTI

Saikia also said the Sabha had been taking initiatives to encourage the use of mother tongue and native languages, while the need for the languages with limited speakers to enter the digital domain is also being explored by this apex literary body of Assam. PTI