Cuttack, Jan 13: Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan lit up a mashal at the 'Youth Sankalp Samabesh' on the occasion of National Youth Day in Cuttack on Friday.

The Union Minister also expressed his concern about the development of Odisha and said that PM Modi's guarantee will also have to be brought to Odisha.

The Union Minister said that it is an honour and a matter of great luck for him to be in the birthplace of Madhusudan Das and the great litterateur Baishnaba Pani.

"Today, on the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda, the heartbeat of the country's youth, a resolution was adopted by the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given a call to make India a developed nation by 2047 and to make this happen, the youth of the country will have to give full strength and today we all together resolved to do the same," said Pradhan.

"Our state, Odisha, will also have to be taken forward. There are multiple types of problems over here. Especially, the health system here is poor. There are so many newborn babies whose concern is the most serious one," he said.

"Today, 19 per cent of the children have a low birth weight and have less food. More than 31 per cent are malnourished; more than 40 per cent of the children are of short height and all this is a matter of serious concern," he added.

The Union Minister further expressed his concern, raising the question that if the children are born in such conditions, then when the country celebrates 100 years of independence, what will be the condition of the youth of Odisha?

He said that keeping everything in mind, Odisha will have to work harder and remove all these obstacles.

"PM Modi's guarantee will also have to be brought to Odisha," he said.

Earlier during the day, Dharmendra Pradhan also participated in the 'Akshat Kalash Yatra' in Cuttack.

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