Indian Youth Congress
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The Indian Youth Congress is the youth wing of the Indian National Congress Party. As of 2006, the Indian Youth Congress has over 4,000,000 members across India, the largest democratic youth organisation in the world.
The Indian Youth Congress was a department of the Indian National Congress from the period just after 1947 until the late 1960s. While prime minister, Indira Gandhi gave the Youth Congress a new dimension by establishing it as a frontal organisation of the Congress Party, with the objective of doing social work and arguing against right-wing parties. Priya Ranjan Dasmunsi was the first elected President of the Indian Youth Congress; he later became Minister of Information and Broadcasting and Parliamentary affairs in the Indian cabinet. Narayan Dutt Tiwari was the first President.
During the 1970s, under the leadership of Sanjay Gandhi, the Youth Congress undertook activities such as tree plantation, family planning, and fought against domestic violence and dowry deaths. After the death of Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi took over in charge of the Youth Congress. After he became prime minister in 1984, Rajiv Gandhi reduced the voting age to 18.
The Indian Youth Congress has its headquarters in Delhi, and is presently headed by Ashok Tanwar. There are 29 office bearers at the national level, followed by the state, district and block level. The Indian Youth Congress has a unit in all 8800 blocks of the country.
