VIJAYAWADA: Andhra Pradesh Inter-District Youth Exchange programme is receiving mixed response from the youngsters across the State. Though the officials planned to start the programme in May, it was postponed due to lack of coordination and communication of the officials of different districts.
In August, the men’s team completed the programme while the women’s team is still waiting for their turn. As part of the programme, 100 youngsters aged between 18 and 35 years will be selected from each district and they will be divided into two groups and each group will be sent to other districts.
The youth will have a three-day camp in the visiting districts to study industrial growth, opportunities and culture. The department had decided to spend over `44 lakh for each term for the three-day programme.
However, the youngsters are not showing much interest in the scheme.
In the first batch, 50 boys from each district took part in the programme and spent three days in exploring other districts. N Sai Krishna, one of the participants of the programme, said, “We have expected a lot from the programme. We wanted to explore the rural areas and study different lifestyles. But it turned to be a sightseeing tour with completely unknown people. The officials lack coordination, which made us face troublesome situations during the visit.”
The Department of Youth Services has come up with the project to benefit the youth across the State by encouraging them through the exchange of knowledge and culture.
Speaking to Express, Youth Welfare Officer of Krishna district B Mohan said, “The programme itself is regarding communication and coordination. Each district is hosting youngsters from two other districts. Usually 50 students from Krishna and 50 students from West Godavari travels together to Nellore district. As it depends on the officials of three districts, there might be some coordination problems and we are trying to rectify them.”
Meanwhile, youth organisations are alleging that the department is still going by the old kind of youth exchange programmes. The current generation needs to explore other states , they say.