27/08/2026
FROM A DIBRUGARH UNIVERSITY STUDENT TO THE ARCHITECT OF A NATIONAL YOUTH VOICE ON BRICS THROUGH BRICS CCI. 🇮🇳🌏
Six years ago, Vishal Dutta was a student at Dibrugarh University.
Today, the same alumnus stands behind an initiative that has brought young voices from across India together to shape a National Youth Statement on BRICS— to reach the Ministries of the Government of India and BRICS diplomatic missions through BRICS CCI.
And it happened here. At Dibrugarh University.
The National Pragati Dialogue 2026, held from 21–23 August 2026, marked an extraordinary convergence of youth, policy, leadership and national discourse in Assam.
With Vishal Dutta—Senior Analyst at TATA Elxsi, Founder Chairman of Pratha Indic Renaissance Trust, and Chief Convenor and strategist behind the National Pragati Dialogue—at the forefront, the initiative brought together:
260+ registered delegates.
500+ attendees.
20+ States & Union Territories.
104 cities and locations.
168 institutional and occupational backgrounds.
But the numbers tell only part of the story.
The real achievement was creating a national mechanism through which young Indians could deliberate, formulate ideas and contribute directly to a document positioned for institutional engagement at the national and international level.
A YOUTH STATEMENT. FROM ASSAM. WITH A NATIONAL DESTINATION.
The ideas and recommendations emerging from the three-day Dialogue are now moving into the drafting and consolidation of the National Youth Statement on BRICS.
The Statement is intended to be taken forward through BRICS Chamber of Commerce & Industry (BRICS CCI) for submission to relevant Ministries of the Government of India, while also being shared with BRICS diplomatic missions and other institutional stakeholders.
That makes the National Pragati Dialogue more than an event.
It becomes a bridge between youth deliberation and institutional policy engagement.
Organised with Pratha Indic Renaissance Trust at the forefront alongside Dibrugarh University, with BRICS CCI as Strategic and Knowledge Partner, and in association with Toastmasters International, The Growth Hub, Atijeevan Foundation, Arth Vidhi and The GEG Global Foundation, the Dialogue created a national platform right here in Assam.
Over three days, the university hosted 18 distinguished guests, speakers, panellists and resource persons, including Dr. Kiran Bedi, Ms. Pragya Prasun, Dr. Seuj Dohutia, ACS, Ayan Pal, Nahid Afrin, Anurag Sarmah and other accomplished voices from governance, public administration, leadership, entrepreneurship, law, communication, technology and social development.
The programme encompassed the BRICS Youth Parliament, policy deliberations, Trilingual National Speech Competition, Civil Services Workshop, Toastmasters sessions, leadership and personality development programmes, and substantive conversations around governance, SDGs, public health, climate change, Digital Public Infrastructure and youth entrepreneurship.
THE FULL-CIRCLE MOMENT
There is something particularly powerful about the fact that this story began on this very campus.
Six years ago: a student.
Today: a Senior Analyst at TATA Elxsi, the Founder Chairman of a national civil society organisation, and the driving force behind a national youth-policy platform convening voices from across India.
And now, ideas generated by that platform are being consolidated into a National Youth Statement on BRICS, with an intended pathway towards India's Ministries and BRICS diplomatic missions.
From the classrooms of Dibrugarh University to a conversation extending across India's BRICS engagement, the journey has come a remarkable distance.
This is what an alumnus returning to his university can look like.
Not just coming back to remember where the journey began—
but coming back to build what comes next.
🇮🇳 NATIONAL PRAGATI DIALOGUE 2026
From Dibrugarh to the national BRICS conversation.
From youth participation to youth authorship.
From dialogue to a statement.
SHAPE THE FUTURE. BE A CO-AUTHOR.
