Chenithung Humtsoe represents Nagaland at 1st National Changemakers Meet

DIMAPUR — Chenithung Humtsoe, chief functionary and executive director of Bethesda Youth Welfare Centre (BYWC), Dimapur, represented Nagaland at the 1st National Changemakers Meet, held at Banas Dairy, Gujarat, on Monday, where 51 changemakers from 27 states and union territories came together to celebrate grassroots leaders driving social transformation across India.

The four-day event, organised by Samanway Pratishthan in association with the India Foundation, highlighted issues ranging from education and sustainability to drug de-addiction, HIV/AIDS, human trafficking, skill development and startups.

According to a press release issued by Samanway Pratishthan, the meet was powered by Conmat Heavy Industries Pvt. Ltd. and supported by ChargeZone.

It was attended by dignitaries including Shankar Chaudhary, speaker of the Gujarat Legislative Assembly and chairman of Banas Dairy; Dr. Ram Madhav, president of the India Foundation; and M Nagarajan, vice-chairman of the Gujarat State Transport Corporation.

Also read: Fourth round of tripartite talks on Frontier Nagaland Territory on September 9

Nagaland’s Peleno Petenilhu receives National Teachers Award 2025

Former Gujarat Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasama and Dr. Ajay Ranka, chairman of Zydex Group, were also present, while Suresh Prabhu, chancellor of Rishihood University and former union minister, joined virtually.

The release noted that Humtsoe has worked extensively for the rehabilitation of people with drug dependency and alcoholism, as well as addressing HIV&AIDS in the state.

Stating that BYWC has sheltered and rehabilitated multitudes of former addicts, it noted that under Humtsoe's leadership, the organisation has also addressed the growing number of HIV&AIDS infections in the state and, along with its fellow counterparts of NGOs in the states, is credited with reducing the HIV prevalence among Injecting Drug Users (IDUs) from 40% in 1997 to below 5%.

The meet, hosted at Asia’s largest dairy cooperative, aimed to build a nationwide collaborative network of changemakers. It followed the Gujarat Changemakers Meet in 2024 and led to the launch of The Changemakers Network, which has so far recognised over 150 grassroots heroes since 2012.