National Youth Day celebrated

The 154th birthday of Swami Vivekananda, India’s most revered spiritual speaker and youth icon was celebrated by the Prakasam district administration as part of the National Youth Day celebrations on Thursday in Ongole.

District collector Sujatha Sharma garlanded the statue of Swami Vivekananda at the Kothapatnam bus stand centre and paid rich tributes the great teacher. She said that the present youth should take inspiration from the life, teachings and habits of Vivekananda. She praised him as a man who spread the greatness of Hinduism, who showed the world how to live humble and down to earth.

She asked the young generation to think positively and spread the advantages of the welfare schemes by the government. She advised the youth to provide awareness on cashless transactions. Dr M Hari Jawaharlal, joint collector said that the youth should take inspiration of Vivekananda and cooperate in development of the country.

The collector and joint collector appreciated and presented mementos to Cumbam Friends Youth Club and APJ Abdul Kalam Youth Ongole for providing various services for the public last year. The officials also presented appreciation certificates to 46 youth who won various prizes in the state youth festival recently.

The STEP CEO Ravi, DRDA PD Murali, DWMA PD Polappa, Municipal Commissioner Venkata Krishna, Ongole DSP G Srinivasa Rao and other officials also participated in the programme.