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Y.U.V.A.N.I.T.I

An initiative of Swapna Foundation

By the Youth. With the Youth. For the Youth.

A platform connecting young people with the people shaping public policy.

YUVANITI creates spaces where young voices meet policymakers, institutions and changemakers — turning participation into leadership and dialogue into action.

Join YUVANITI Explore Yuva Samwaad
Young people in conversation with a government minister across a table at a YUVANITI dialogue.

Where we stand

Youth engaged
500+
Institutions represented
30+
Yuva Samwaad editions
2
Grassroots work through Swapna Foundation
Since 2019

Youth and institution figures cover the Yuva Samwaad editions held in 2021 and 2024.

Youth shouldn’t just talk about the future. They should help shape it.

Young people have opinions about how their state is run. What they rarely have is a route to the people running it.

YUVANITI exists to build that route — and to make sure what gets said in the room turns into something a young person can act on afterwards.

YUVANITI The platform
Youth dialogues, leadership exposure, policy conversations and civic participation.
Swapna Foundation The grassroots foundation behind it
Founded in Lucknow in 2019, with on-ground programmes spanning education, health, community welfare, environment and animal welfare.
Read more about us
A young speaker addressing an audience from a YUVANITI podium.

An initiative of Swapna Foundation, working across Uttar Pradesh since 2019.

The flagship programme

When young people get a seat at the table.

Yuva Samwaad brings students from Lucknow face to face with serving ministers, senior officials and public figures — to ask their own questions, on the record.

This is not simply a youth event. It is a structured space for young people to engage directly with the people shaping public policy.

Explore Yuva Samwaad
A panel discussion on stage at Yuva Samwaad with audience members raising their hands.

What makes it different

  1. 01

    Structured, not staged

    A run of show, moderated sessions and questions from the floor — a structured, on-record conversation, not a photo opportunity.

  2. 02

    Young people ask

    Students put the questions. The platform exists to be used by them, not spoken at.

  3. 03

    Documented

    Sessions are recorded and written up, so a dialogue leaves something behind after the room empties.

Two editions, and what comes next

  1. 2021

    Yuva Samwaad — Edition 1

    The first edition brought students together with ministers and officials of the Government of Uttar Pradesh in Lucknow. Covered by Amar Ujala on 16 September 2021.

  2. 2024

    Yuva Samwaad 2.0

    The second edition widened both the room and the roster — more institutions represented, and sessions spanning policy, governance and women’s empowerment.

  3. Next

    The next edition

    Dates for the next Yuva Samwaad are not yet announced. Institutions interested in hosting a dialogue on their campus can start that conversation now.

    Host a Dialogue

Young voices. Serious conversations.

Across two editions, students from Lucknow have put questions directly to serving and former ministers of the Government of Uttar Pradesh, senior officials and public figures.

  • Mr. Swatantra Dev Singh

    Minister of Jal Shakti, Government of Uttar Pradesh

  • Mr. Jai Veer Singh

    Minister of Tourism, Government of Uttar Pradesh

  • Dr. Mahendra Singh

    Former Minister of Water, Energy and Resources, Government of Uttar Pradesh

  • Mr. Satish Kumar Dwivedi

    Former Minister of Basic Education, Government of Uttar Pradesh

  • Mr. Danish Azad Ansari

    Minister of Minorities Welfare, Government of Uttar Pradesh

  • Mrs. Aparna Bisht Yadav

    Vice President, BJP Mahila Morcha

A selection. The full roster is on the Yuva Samwaad page.

See every participant

Why YUVANITI

Access
Young people engage directly with policymakers and institutions — in the room, with a microphone, not watching from outside.
Participation
Young people are participants, not spectators. They set the questions the sessions are built around.
Experience
Leadership happens through real-world exposure — internships, mentoring and running the machinery of an event, not a certificate.
Action
Dialogue connects to practical civic and community work through Swapna Foundation’s on-ground programmes.

What we run

YUVANITI

Youth leadership and civic participation

  • Policy dialogues
  • Internships
  • Leadership exposure
  • Innovation
  • Community action

Swapna Foundation

Grassroots action

  • Street Kaksha
  • Project Margdarshan
  • Paw Rangers
  • Project Umang
  • Bhumitra Initiative
  • Water Brigade
  • Blood for All
  • 2nd Innings

Swapna Foundation’s programmes run independently of YUVANITI’s dialogues; both sit under the same organisation.

Achyut Tripathi, founder of Swapna Foundation, at a YUVANITI programme.

How it started

It started with a cricket injury.

Competitive cricket ended for Achyut Tripathi with an injury. What followed was an hour a day teaching children near Nishatganj in Lucknow — a few friends, basic lessons, and samosas afterwards.

That became Swapna Foundation in 2019. YUVANITI came later, out of a question those years kept raising: young people had plenty to say about how the state was run, and no route to the people running it.

Read the full story

In the press

Our work has been documented by regional and national outlets.

Headlines are English summaries of coverage published in Hindi.

See all coverage

Four ways in

Different people arrive here for different reasons. Pick the one that fits.

  • For young people

    Join YUVANITI

    Volunteer on ground operations, outreach, events and documentation — or apply for an internship in policy research, communications or community projects.

    Join YUVANITI

  • For universities and colleges

    Host a Dialogue

    YUVANITI brings the dialogue format, the speakers and the documentation. The institution provides the venue and student participation.

    Host a Dialogue

  • For corporates and CSR teams

    Partner With Us

    Support youth participation in governance, from a single dialogue to a longer programme. We will talk through what a collaboration could look like.

    Partner With Us

  • For policymakers and institutions

    Engage With YUVANITI

    Speak at a dialogue, take questions from young people in your state, or work with us on a youth consultation.

    Engage With YUVANITI

Bring YUVANITI to your campus

We work with universities, colleges, corporates and public institutions to host dialogues and youth programmes.

Get involved Contact us