The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Be selfless, Minister tells youth

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, May 05, 2006

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Be selfless, Minister tells youth

Staff Reporter

Shankaramurthy addresses seminar on challenges to entrepreneurship

Bangalore: Minister for Higher Education D.H. Shankaramurthy on Thursday stressed the need for better infrastructure for good quality education.

Inaugurating a seminar on "Entrepreneurship — Challenges Ahead," at the Government R.C. College of Commerce and Management here, he said students had limited opportunities earlier, as there were very few openings. "But now the scenario has changed. With colleges mushrooming and more and more new courses being introduced, opportunities are ample and so are the challenges."

He lauded the youth for making a mark in the global arena despite innumerable challenges. The Minister also lamented the fact that though many were talented, they failed to make use of opportunities. `I' was the dominating factor. `My career' was what they were focussed on. "This should not be the case. Youth should be selfless and should think about society at large," he said. He emphasised the need for a change in the mindset of those who always relied on the Government for everything. Every individual had to play his role as a citizen rather than banking on the Government even for small things, he said.

Delivering the keynote address B.S. Arun Kumar, an entrepreneur, said entrepreneurs, who were the heroes of today in the market place, had a passion to drive the world of business forward and would remain the critical contributors to economic growth.

Leadership, management, innovation, research and development effectiveness, competi- tiveness and job productivity were their keywords. The 21st century generation would be termed `Generation E' because this century is going to become the generation of entrepreneurs, he said. As many as 5.6 million people below the age of 34 were trying to start their own businesses. A third of the new entrepreneurs were younger than 30 years and more than 60 per cent of those aged between 16 and 29 wanted a business of their own. The choice of entrepreneurship and the motivational factor that drove them towards the goal had to be identified. Risk was an often-experienced challenge. The higher the reward, the greater the risk, Mr. Kumar pointed out.

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