Chandigarh, Jan 16 (AHN) The second edition of the two-day 'Haryana Youth Dialogue' began on Friday at the Haryana Legislative Assembly here, which saw the attendance of 65 participants from 13 states.

Assembly Speaker Harvinder Kalyan inaugurated the event, which is being organised in collaboration with the Rajdhani Yuva Sansad Sansthan, by lighting a lamp.

Speaking on the occasion, Speaker Kalyan said, "India endured a long and difficult period of colonialism, during which attempts were made to undermine our rich culture and values. Despite this, India is today the world's largest democracy and is on a path of continuous development. This is a testament to the strength of our Constitution and the unity of our citizens."

"The Constitution teaches us that India's true strength lies in its people. We must all work together to realise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of making India a developed nation by 2047," he said.

The Speaker said India "is a country of diversity. While there are different languages, traditions and cultures, they all share a common goal: the progress of the nation and the state. While the languages of the various state legislatures may differ, the objective of all public representatives is to create effective and welfare programmes for every segment of society".

Removing the difficulties of the people and meeting their needs is the true goal, he said.

The Speaker told the youth that today "they are sitting in the same Vidhan Sabha building from where many prominent MLAs and leaders of the state have played a crucial role in lawmaking and the overall development of Haryana".

He hoped that the youth present here would advance democratic traditions when they find opportunities to become public representatives in the future and participate in active and meaningful discussions in the House.

He said diversity of ideas "is natural in democracy, but the youth should move forward towards solutions with positive thinking so that society and the country can get a new direction".

The Speaker said that if the country "is to progress, it is essential to empower women socially, politically, and economically. To this end, a historic Bill providing 33 per cent reservation for women has been passed".

Sharing his experience of the Commonwealth Parliament held in New Delhi, he said the Speakers of many countries were surprised that India "is moving forward so strongly despite hundreds of languages, customs and cultural diversities".

In the programme, legislator Pooja Chaudhary, Advisor to Haryana Legislative Assembly Speaker, Ram Narayan Yadav, Co-Founder of Haryana Yuva Samvad, Jai Saini, and Isha Kapoor addressed the youth and expressed their views on the freedom movement, experiences of the constituent Assembly, democratic values, leadership ability and the role of the youth.

The second phase of the programme included a question hour and was followed by two special sessions.

The first session was focused on 'Sustainable Development of Haryana: Industrial Expansion, Environmental Protection, and Balanced Use of Natural Resources', while the second session was on the need for industrial expansion, challenges and the Haryana Industrial Policy 2025 in detail to achieve Vision 2030.