MY Bharat and SOUL Join Forces to Train 100,000 Youth Leaders Across India

The three-year agreement, with provisions for extension by mutual consent, is aligned with the national vision of creating 100,000 youth leaders aged between 18 and 29 years, drawn from all parts of India.

In a major step towards empowering India’s young generation, MY Bharat, the youth platform under the Department of Youth Affairs, Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the School of Ultimate Leadership Foundation (SOUL) to collaborate on youth leadership development, capacity building, and knowledge sharing.

The three-year agreement, with provisions for extension by mutual consent, is aligned with the national vision of creating 100,000 youth leaders aged between 18 and 29 years, drawn from all parts of India. The initiative will promote skills in governance, public policy, social entrepreneurship, financial and digital literacy, and other essential domains, while ensuring representation from rural, urban, aspirational, tribal, women, and marginalised communities.

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Comprehensive Scope of Collaboration

The MoU outlines a wide-ranging set of activities to be jointly implemented through designated contact points and potentially a joint working group. These include:

• Leadership Programmes – Design, development, and delivery of structured training in governance, foreign policy, communications, social entrepreneurship, and digital/financial literacy.

• Youth Engagement Events – Organisation of conclaves, seminars, workshops, fellowships, and networking opportunities for aspiring leaders.

• Capacity Building – Strengthening youth-serving organisations, educational institutions, and training centres to better nurture leadership talent.

• Joint Research & Policy Advocacy – Producing studies and recommendations to inform policy in youth leadership and capacity building.

• Knowledge Exchange – Sharing trainers, experts, curriculum, training materials, and assessment tools between MY Bharat and SOUL.

• Best Practices Dissemination – Documenting and circulating successful leadership models and strategies.

• Inclusive Selection Process – Conducting online quizzes and evaluations to identify participants on a merit-based and inclusive basis.

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Upcoming Leadership Programme Launch

As part of this partnership, an online leadership training programme will be rolled out in September 2025. This course will focus on imbibing essential leadership skills, preparing young participants to take on impactful roles in their communities and beyond. The programme will adopt a blended approach, combining virtual learning, interactive sessions, and field engagement opportunities.

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Driving National Youth Empowerment

Officials from both organisations emphasised that the collaboration is not just about training individuals, but about building a nationwide movement of socially conscious, skilled, and visionary young leaders who can contribute meaningfully to governance, policy-making, and community development.

The initiative aims to act as a catalyst for inclusive nation-building, ensuring that talented youth from the remotest and most marginalised backgrounds have equal access to leadership development opportunities. By leveraging SOUL’s expertise in leadership training and MY Bharat’s national network, the programme seeks to create a self-sustaining ecosystem for youth empowerment.