Get ready for leadership in struggle of nation building

Chief Adviser Fakhruddin Ahmed yesterday urged the youth to get ready to take the leadership in the new struggle for nation building.
“I make a clarion call to you all to play a pivotal role in establishing honest, patriotic and people-friendly leadership, good governance and justice,” he said this while he was inaugurating the National Youth Day 2008.
Terming the youths as the movers of change and the nation's future guides, he said the role of youth is vital in bringing qualitative changes in all sectors, including the family and society and politics.
Fakhruddin said the youth community has a record of glorious and courageous history and tradition, and extraordinary contributions to every movement, from the Language Movement to the Liberation War, for establishing democracy apart from their role in tackling natural disasters and providing humanitarian services.
Department of Youth Development of Youth and Sport Ministry organised the event at the Osmani Memorial auditorium, marking the Youth Day.
The slogan of this year's Youth Day is 'Jugupojugi Prashikhhan Jubo Bekarotta Nirashan' (Time-befitting training for elimination of youth unemployment).
Presided over by Chief Adviser's Special Assistant for Youth and Sports Ministry Mahbub Jamil, the function was also addressed by Secretary of the ministry Golam Mostofa Talukder. Hosnera Akter Lata spoke on behalf of the self-employed workers and Shukur Salek on behalf of the best organisers.
The best self-employed workers are M Hasanuzzaman Sarker of Salidha in Narsingdi, M Saiful Islam of Burichong in Comilla, Mahmuda Begum of Keranipara in Rangpur, Yasmin Nasim of Bagerhat, Rakib Mahmud Talukder of Durgapur in Barisal, M Moyezuddin of Fenchuganj in Sylhet, Hosneara Akter Lata of Pashchim Deowbhogh in Narayanganj and Kolnis Chakma of Sukhi Nilganj in Rangamati. The two best youth organisers are Shukur Salek of Hazaribagh in Dhaka and Ferdous Alam of Golapganj in Sylhet.
Each award carries a prize bond of Tk 20,000, a crest and a certificate.
Fakhruddin distributed the awards among the recipients.
Expressing her feelings after winning the award and the experiences of her struggle in becoming a self-employed woman, Hosneara said she started her journey of struggle taking the responsibility of their seven-member family after the death of her day-labourer father.
She said she had to face various obstacles as well as negative criticisms from her relatives when she started searching means of earning. “Defying those barriers, I attended a short training course on dressmaking at Youth Training Centre in 2001 and started seeing the ray of hope,” she told the function.
Hosneara said she set up Shoshi Handicraft project with a loan of Tk 25,000 from Youth Development, Narayanganj.
Hosneara, a successful small entrepreneur, told the function that she now earns Tk 2 lakh a month and over 1,000 women have so far received training from her institution and presently 250 women are receiving training from it.
She advised the youth, both men and women, not to waste their valuable time just looking for jobs and get self-employed taking different occupational trainings.
Advisers, special assistants to CA, young men and women from different organisations and youth organisers attended the function.
Earlier, the CA inaugurated the National Youth Day 2008 by hoisting national flag and releasing pigeons in the air.