More than 400 change makers from Jharkhand and Odisha come together to share ideas and aspirations for a brighter tomorrow

The third edition of “DHWANI – A Youth Conclave” organised by Tata Steel, commenced today at the Michael John Auditorium, Jamshedpur. This is an annual congregation of youth across Jharkhand and Odisha with whom the company engages round the year through RISHTA (a programme on adolescent behavior) and several other targetted programmes. Inspired by the overarching theme of International Youth Day 2019, this year the theme is ‘Transforming Education’.

During the three years of Dhwani, the programme has moved from an annual event to emerge as a platform that lends itself to youth and their aspirations. The journey this year, therefore, began with an angle of talent scouting - Pratibha Chayan Yatra - between August 3-8, 2019, which was a series of one-day workshops held across West Bokaro, Jamadoba, Noamundi, Joda and Kalinganagar to handpick its participants for DHWANI 2019.

The event was inaugurated by Mr. Naga Sravan Kilaru , young change maker of eminence and National Youth awardee, who was present as the chief guest, and Mr Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel. In his keynote address, Mr Kiralu said; ““Today, India’s biggest advantage is our Youth. The question and challenge before us is how do we turn our youth into nation builders who would be crafting the country’s success story. The theme of education this year is very apt indeed. We need to see our youth as more than just employees and ensure that we create platforms which empower them to understand and apply their skills and talent””

Addressing the youngsters at the opening ceremony, Mr. Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President, Corporate Services, said “Our country is privileged to have a significant demography comprising youth who can create a positive impact on society.’ Dhwani’ is a platform for enabling youth to come together, share lessons from their individual struggles and successes and collectively take forward transformational ideas to make a difference. We look forward to a constructive dialogue to enable a cultural change for a better future.”

In its third edition, 400 young minds from across the two States of Jharkhand and Odisha have assembled at Jamshedpur to share ideas and action plans for social change while undertaking self-development workshops, interactions with eminent speakers and subject matter experts of global repute and capture the larger youth perspective on the narrative of education, its problems and probable solutions.

Mr Sourav Roy, Chief, CSR, Tata Steel, said: “The young and the restless will lead the charge towards the India of tomorrow. We see this clearly in working with some outstanding young women and men, as part of our CSR projects, whose passion for social change and stories of personal determination must reach a wider audience and eventually feed in to policy articulation – Dhwani has been setup as a platform to this end, as well as to bring the best of national and international thinking to these outstanding youngsters. We believe that meaningful change can be brought about only when our youth become equal stakeholders in the development roadmap.

The day began with a Prabhat Yatra where the 400-strong team of participants held an awareness march to spread the message of health and wealth as priorities in the present times. Several sessions were held through the day including Life’s Balance Sheet, Mera Manch Mera Man and a thematic group discussion. DHWANI voices the opinions and thought-process of the youth of present-day India through group discussions, role plays and story-telling.

A total of five young change makers from Jharkhand and Odisha were felicitated during the inaugural session for their stellar efforts towards bringing in social change.

• Premnath Solanki (Noamundi) - Helped in curbing child marriage by creating awareness through Nukkad Nataks
• Rani Lohar (Joda) - Deferred her own wedding at the age of 15 and also helped curb child marriage in her village
• Sunita Kumari (Jamadoba) - Gives free tuitions to the under privileged children in her area
• Rajesh Kumar Mahato (West Bokaro) - Encourages the youth of West Bokaro to pursue sporting activities like football,cricket
• Rajini Malik (Kalinganagar) - Through youth resource centre, she provides free education to children and also training in self-defense to girls

Day 2 of DHWANI 2019 would see a Tree Plantation Drive at Jubilee Park and Human Chain with young change – makers at 6:30 AM. Later in the day there would be interesting talks by Mr Oinam Rajen Singh from the Floating School initiative in Manipur, Mr Hari Om Gandhi, Zonal Director, NCB and Mr Uttam Terron, Parijat Academy. Additionally, there would be sessions on life experience sharing by Transformers of Education from ASPIRE as well as from ‘Masti Ki Pathshala’

Annexure I
Speaker Profiles

Annexure II
Participant and Few Change Maker Profiles

About Tata Steel
Tata Steel group is among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 33 million tonnes per annum (MnTPA). It is one of the world's most geographically-diversified steel producers, with operations and commercial presence across the world. The group (excluding SEA operations) recorded a consolidated turnover of US $22.67 billion in the financial year ending March 31, 2019. In 2018, Tata Steel acquired Bhushan Steel Ltd (now renamed as Tata Steel BSL Ltd).

A Great Place to Work-CertifiedTM organisation, Tata Steel Ltd., together with its subsidiaries, associates and joint ventures, is spread across five continents with an employee base of over 65,000.

Tata Steel retained the ‘Global Steel Industry Leader’ position in the DJSI 2018. The Company has been recognised as the Climate Disclosure Leader in ‘Steel category’ by CDP (2017). Besides being a member of the World Steel Climate Action Programme, Tata Steel has won several awards including the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant for 2016-17, ‘GreenPro’ certification for products (Tata Pravesh Steel Doors, Tata Structura, Tata Pipes) by CII, Authorized Economic Operator (AEO) status (Tier 2) by the Directorate of International Customs (Ministry of Finance, Govt. of India), ‘Corporate Strategy Award’ by Mint (2018), Golden Peacock Award for Risk Management (2018) and Best Risk Management Framework & Systems Award (2019) by CNBC TV18. The Company also received the ‘Most Ethical Company’ award from Ethisphere Institute for the eight time (2019), Steel Sustainability Champion (2018) by the World Steel Association, Dun & Bradstreet Corporate Awards (2019), Golden Peacock HR Excellence Award by Institute of Directors (2018), ‘Best Companies To Work For’ recognition by Business Today, 'Asia's Best Integrated Report' award by the Asia Sustainability Reporting Awards (2017), among several others.

In 2018, the Company launched a corporate brand campaign #WeAlsoMakeTomorrow. www.wealsomaketomorrow.com

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