The Hindu : Front Page : Youth must look at challenges facing the nation: Pratibha Patil

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Sunday, Sep 02, 2007
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Youth must look at challenges facing the nation: Pratibha Patil

K.T. Sangameswaran

President wants them to address social issues, eliminate evil customs

— Photo: V. Ganesan

CALL To YOUTH: President Pratibha Patil delivering the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development foundation Day lecture after unveiling the institute’s logo at Sriperumbudur on Saturday.

SRIPERUMBUDUR: As the country’s youth search for a bright future and seek to build a new India, opportunities and facilities should be provided to them, and their problems should be addressed, President Pratibha Patil said on Saturday, who is on her first visit to Tamil Nadu after assuming office.

“At the same time, it is incumbent upon the youth of our country to prepare themselves for the responsibilities that lie ahead and to look at the challenges facing the nation,” she said delivering the inaugural Foundation Day lecture at the Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD) here.

The youth should play a role in addressing social issues, in eliminating evil social customs, contributing to India’s economic development, participating in its political life and protecting the environment.

To meet the future with confidence and fulfilling the dream of modern India, they would have to inculcate in themselves a sense of discipline, a spirit of tolerance, a quest for knowledge, a positive mind and respect for fellow human beings.

Ms. Patil recalled former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s vision of India as a technologically advanced country in the 21st century, and underscored the need for increasing the country’s rate of growth. As 70 per cent of the population was in the rural areas, a critical aspect of inclusive growth was rural development.

The huge youth population of 77 crore could be leveraged to catapult the country to the front ranks of human civilisation. The demographic advantage could turn into the greatest disadvantage if the youth were not included in, and harnessed to, the process of development.

The President unveiled the institute’s logo and launched its websites, one on youth and the other on adolescent health and development.

Striking a similar note, Tamil Nadu Governor Surjit Singh Barnala said the role of youth in human resource development needed to be thought of in the light of the new demands of contemporary economy and society. The ever expanding frontiers of knowledge should be used for the country’s progress.

Union Minister for Panchayati Raj, Youth Affairs and Sports Mani Shankar Aiyar, also RGNIYD chairman, said the institute would launch in the coming months a community radio station and a mobile video conferencing facility dedicated for the youth.

From next year, Rajiv Gandhi Youth Fellowships would be given to individuals for carrying out projects or studies on the contemporary context of youth. Union Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports Secretary S.K.Arora said the institute had extended and expanded its activities in the last two years.

Mr. Aiyar read out AICC president Sonia Gandhi’s message in which she said the RGNIYD was set up to take Rajiv Gandhi’s endeavours forward and provide a forum for youth from different parts of the country to exchange experiences, interact with national personalities and for coming together in the service of the country.

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