The Darjeeling Youth Delegation, comprising 20 selected candidates and led by Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla, MP, visited New Delhi from 23rd February to 26th February for an institutional and leadership exposure programme. The initiative aimed to provide the youth of Darjeeling firsthand exposure to India’s democratic institutions and governance frameworks.
During the visit, the delegation called on the Vice President of India and visited the Parliament of India, an experience many described as entering the temple of democracy. The group also visited Rashtrapati Bhavan and interacted with national leaders including Shri Kiren Rijiju, Union Minister of Parliamentary Affairs of India and Shri Mansukh Mandaviya, Minister of Labour and Employment and Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports. They engaged with technology sector C-suite leaders, participated in a UPSC coaching module, and interacted with senior interlocutors across governance, public policy, development, technology, diplomacy, and cultural soft power.
The itinerary included visits to Swaminarayan Akshardham, the Lotus Temple, and the exhibition “The Light and the Lotus: Relics of the Awakened One,” where the sacred Piprahwa Relics of Lord Buddha are displayed, which deeply resonated with many participants from the Darjeeling hills.
The delegation described the visit as inspiring and transformative. “𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒅𝒊𝒈𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒍𝒊𝒌𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑽𝒊𝒄𝒆 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑼𝒏𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒔 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒒𝒖𝒆 𝒆𝒙𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆. 𝑾𝒂𝒍𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒐 𝑷𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒊𝒂𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂 𝒑𝒐𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒖𝒍 𝒎𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒖𝒔,” said one delegate. Another participant shared, “𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑼𝑷𝑺𝑪 𝒔𝒆𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒔𝒊𝒃𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒑𝒖𝒔𝒉𝒆𝒅 𝒖𝒔 𝒃𝒆𝒚𝒐𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒕 𝒛𝒐𝒏𝒆. 𝑴𝒂𝒏𝒚 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒏𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒆𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝑫𝒆𝒍𝒉𝒊 𝒃𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆.”
Several members expressed pride in representing the youth of Darjeeling in the capital. “𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒈𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒏𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒉𝒆𝒍𝒑 𝒖𝒔 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒃𝒖𝒕𝒆 𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈𝒇𝒖𝒍𝒍𝒚 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒊𝒆𝒔,” a delegate added.
Reflecting on the visit, Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla stated: “𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒕𝒓𝒖𝒍𝒚 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒘𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒄𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒔𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒑𝒓𝒊𝒅𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒈𝒓𝒐𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒋𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒆𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝒊𝒕 𝒊𝒏𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒅𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒚 𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍. 𝑨𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒓𝒚 𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝒅𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒎𝒔, 𝒂 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒆𝒇 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎𝒔𝒆𝒍𝒗𝒆𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒐𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒇𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒍𝒊𝒇𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒎𝒆. 𝑾𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎 𝒂 𝒇𝒖𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒊𝒕𝒉 𝒑𝒖𝒓𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒆, 𝒐𝒑𝒑𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒕𝒚, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆𝒅 𝒔𝒖𝒄𝒄𝒆𝒔𝒔. 𝑻𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆 𝒂𝒍𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒅𝒚 𝒎𝒂𝒅𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒋𝒆𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒑𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒅, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑰 𝒂𝒎 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒅𝒆𝒏𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒚 𝒘𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒐 𝒔𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒂𝒄𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒑𝒍𝒊𝒔𝒉𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒔.”
The exposure visit marks an important step in empowering young leaders from the Darjeeling hills. The initiative reflects the forward-looking vision of Shri Harsh Vardhan Shringla, whose efforts to create meaningful opportunities for the youth of Darjeeling continue to be widely appreciated.
