KOLKATA: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) National President Nitin Nabin on Monday called for greater focus on youth policy and sports in West Bengal, saying the state’s rich legacy in sports, art, literature and culture could help drive a renewed sense of hope among its younger population.
Addressing the Yuva Samvad Conclave in Kolkata during his two-day visit to West Bengal, Nabin said the state had moved from an atmosphere of fear to one of trust and expressed confidence that it would once again live up to its sporting legacy.
“Given the atmosphere of trust you have fostered, having led West Bengal out of an environment of fear, I am fully confident that the state will once again live up to its rich sporting legacy. At the same time, I would urge the Chief Minister to focus on the state’s youth policy alongside its sports sector. We, and no one else are the ones who can dispel the negativity being spread through social media. Today’s youth simply need a platform.
The BJP chief added that youth in bengal are not job seekers but they are job creators. “After all, they are not job seekers; they are job creators. Consider how Prime Minister Narendra Modi introduced the startup ecosystem to the country. Today, based on that initiative, over 250,000 startups and more than 125 unicorns are operating across the nation.”
Targeting the Opposition party, Nabin further emphasised the role of young people in shaping the state’s future, with an emphasis on providing platforms for youth beyond conventional employment opportunities.
“I believe that even today, on social media, it is the ‘Reel’ that is ‘Real’ that gains traction. Fabricated Reels do not go very far. In other words, today’s youth also trusts what is real, not what is fabricated. Today’s generation values authenticity. There was a time when people tried to project a fabricated image or present themselves to society under a false guise,” he added.
He said, “Even today, only those Reels that are ‘Real’ truly succeed on social media. Fabricated Reels do not last long; this shows that today’s youth trust real things, not fabricated ones. In today’s society, sports and culture have been pushed to the sidelines. We used to watch television; now, we have shifted directly to mobile phones. Children used to head out to the playing fields as soon as it turned 3 or 4 o’clock. That era seems to have been lost across the country.”
He also highlighted West Bengal’s longstanding association with sports, saying these areas remained closely connected with the state’s social identity. During his address, Nabin noted that the growing use of mobile phones had reduced the time children spent on playing fields.
“The time children should have spent on the playing field is now being spent on mobile phones. That is precisely why what was once our true strength has, in a way, been lost. West Bengal is the only state in the country where a multitude of elements coexist. Sports, art, literature, and culture are ingrained in the DNA of its people. West Bengal is the only state in the nation that possesses all these attributes collectively,” he added.
