Under the aegis of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav and Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat program, M/o Education has started the ‘Student Exchange’ program to celebrate the cultural and linguistic diversity of our country.
Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat program aims to enhance interaction & promote mutual understanding between people of different states/UTs through the concept of state/UT pairing. The states carry out activities to promote a sustained and structured cultural connection in the areas of language learning, culture, traditions & music, tourism & cuisine, sports, and sharing of best practices, etc.
The aim of the student exchange program is to make students from higher education institutions (approx. 25) and departments of school education (approx. 25) of a State/ UT travel to their paired state under the EBSB matrix, where they can experience the culture and tradition of the paired state and spend some time to see the life of the people in different states of India. The program is aimed at fostering an understanding of diverse socio-economic and living experiences and building empathy.
The program kick-started in June’22. Five groups (around 250 students) have already visited their paired State:
| State Pairing |
Sender institute |
Receiving Institute |
Dates |
| Madhya Pradesh- Manipur and Nagaland |
Manipur Institute of Technology, Imphal |
IPS Academy, Institute of Engineering & Science, Indore |
27th June– 1st July 2022 |
| Himachal Pradesh – Kerala |
University Institute of Technology, H.P. University Shimla |
SCMS Cochin School of Business, Cochin |
28th June– 1st July 2022 |
| Maharashtra – Odisha |
Manav Rachna International Institute of Research and Studies, Faridabad |
Nalla Malla Reddy Engineering College, Hyderabad |
28th June– 1st July 2022 |
| Haryana - Telangana |
GIET University, Gunupur |
Thakur College of Engineering & Technology, Mumbai |
28th June– 1st July 2022 |
| Punjab-Andhra Pradesh |
Lovely Professional University, Kapurthala |
Lendi Institute of Engineering and Technology, Vishakhapatnam |
5th July - 9th July 2022 |
For more details please visit https://ekbharat.gov.in/
Here are some glimpses of the trips:
Visit of students to paired state Manipur to Madhya Pradesh
Students from Odisha visit Kanheri Caves, Mumbai with their friends from Maharashtra
Students from Punjab visiting
Andhra Pradesh
Students from Odisha visited famous places like Sanjay Gandhi National Park and the Gateway of India in Mumbai
A team of students and teachers, who came from Manipur to Indore under 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat', were taken to Mandu
Students and faculty members from Himachal Pradesh enjoy 'Kadhakali' performance at RLV College of Music and Fine Arts at Tripunithura
Students from our Punjab visited the famous Goddess Temple of Sri Sri Sri Pydithalli at Vizianagaram, Andhra Pradesh