President Abdul Hamid on Monday urged the youths of the country to take firm steps against juvenile gangs which are committing crimes ruining the future of many children. 

"Nowadays, we often learn from the media about different criminal activities, including offences committed by juvenile gangs. It is ruining the future of many youths having an adverse impact on society. The youths should take firm steps in this regard," he said.

His call came at the inaugural ceremony of  "National Youth Day-2021" programme held at the Osmani Auditorium The President joined the programme virtually from Bangabhaban.

Saying 'There are huge challenges alongside potentialities for the youths in the future', Hamid said poverty, illiteracy, lack of employment; crime and violence cause chaos and instability in society.

He also advised parents and guardians to take care of their children's education as well as prevent them from engaging in criminal activities. 

Hamid said the youths should be fully involved in productive activities for the greater interest of the country and its people. 

President Hamid said, "Youths should remain well along with all people of the country, not only for themselves." 

Referring to the immense potential of the country's youths he said, "There is no substitute for continued development to take the country to the desired goal in order to make the country a happy and prosperous one within 2041. The youths will play a leading role in this 

regard."

The President called upon the youths to prepare them to complete the unfinished works of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and fulfil his dream to build a prosperous Bangladesh free from hunger and poverty. 

He said that development activities of the youths should be taken forward 

by ensuring transparency and accountability in all activities, proper use of information technology (IT) and proper utilization of available public-private opportunities.

Praising the courageous activities of youths during difficult times 

in history, starting from the country's freedom struggle, even during COVOD-19 outbreak recently, the President said the youths played an important role in every stage of the national crisis.

Mentioning that Bangladesh is now irresistible in its development journey, 

he said, "The involvement of our huge youth power (one-third of the country's 

population is youth - more than five crore) is essential to sustain the trend 

of sustainable development by facing the devastating pandemic COVID-19.

Expressing satisfaction over the country's overall development activities, the President said the government, under the leadership of Prime Minister 

Sheikh Hasina, has been relentlessly working to turn the youth into human 

resources by providing motivation, training, loan assistance and advice to 

them irrespective of villages and towns. 

A total of 27 people were awarded the National Youth Award for their outstanding contributions to various fields. 

State Minister for Youth and Sports Zahid Ahsan Russell presided 

over the function while Senior Secretary Md Akhter Hossain and Director General of Department of Youth DevelopmentAzharul Islam Khan also spoke.