Patna: A 50-member delegation of youths from different districts of Bihar was flagged off from the IIT-Patna campus on Saturday for a weeklong visit to Punjab under the ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’ initiative of the union ministry of education.Flagging off the delegation, sugar cane industry minister Sanjay Kumar said the visit offered a unique opportunity for the youths of the state to experience and understand India’s rich cultural diversity firsthand. He urged the participants to act as cultural ambassadors of Bihar during their stay in Punjab and conduct themselves accordingly.Sanjay said the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat initiative was aimed at strengthening cultural, traditional, educational and people-to-people ties among youths from different states and Union Territories.IIT-P director T N Singh highlighted the deep historical, cultural and social ties shared by Bihar and Punjab. He said the visit would provide participants with valuable exposure to Punjab’s rich cultural heritage, industrial achievements, agricultural progress and local traditions, helping promote greater national integration and mutual understanding.The programme was attended by senior faculty members Anoop Keshri, Rishav Singh and Sunil Kumar Singh, along with other officers and staff of the institute.