The Hindu Business Line : CII's Young Indians comes to Bangalore

CII on Tuesday launched the Bangalore chapter of YI, an initiative to bring young professionals in the 25-40 age bracket into its developmental fold. The chapter has already enrolled 36 members.

Mr Sandeep Maini, YI Bangalore Chapter Chairman, said, "We will work to identify and provide direction to young Indians who will be the leaders of tomorrow.

Using a `We can, we will' approach, these young leaders will actively drive change in the economic and social agendas of our country.

The YI message is to spread the feeling of pride and patriotism and work towards a shared vision for India."

YI, according to CII, has been inspired by the President, Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, and is meant for all individual Indian professionals aged below 40 years from across the world. They may range from owner-managers to doctors, lawyers, NGOs, politicians and bureaucrats with at least three years of experience and who are committed to selfless contribution to the development of India.

The first of the annual YI Summits has been scheduled for March 2004 in New Delhi and will focus on `Unleashing the Indian Opportunity.' The President will open the event.

The YI advisory board includes the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr N. Chandrababu Naidu; the CEO of ICICI Bank, Mr K.V. Kamath; the Infosys Chairman and Chief Mentor, Mr N.R. Narayana Murthy; and the CII Director-General, Mr Tarun Das.

It has chapters in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Hyderabad and Pune and would be expanded to all major cities in India and the world.

The nationwide YI Bridge programme aims to bring out the "unharnessed energy of students."

It will reach out and motivate millions of young students in schools and colleges.

In Bangalore, it will identify three schools and three colleges for its pilot programme, which will include sports, art and cultural activities, a spokesperson said.

There will be other annual events such as industry-student partnership programmes, mentoring of young professionals and entrepreneurs and community development projects involving students.

YI will also arrange for member-interactions with successful people, personality and skill set development programmes, discussions and debates on current affairs, such as terrorism and communal harmony.