Only 6% youth enjoy benefit of higher education:Somnath Chatterje

New Delhi, Apr 29 (UNI) Lamenting the fact that only six per cent of the eligible youth are able to enjoy the benefit of higher education in the country, Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee today urged the youth to pro-actively contribute to the re-emergence of finer values in to our socio-political life.

Speaking on the occasion of the annual Alumni Awards of the Hindu College Mr Chatterjee said, ''We need politics and politicians to run the system. Everyone from the academia to the media, enjoys the idea of politician-bashing or leader bashing but not many come forward to share the resposibilities of democratic functiong in a pro-active way.'' Regretting the fact that only about 6 per cent of the University-eligible age group youth are actually able to enjoy the benefit of higher education in the country today, he said, ''This unpleasant reality adds to the responsibility on those who have the benefit of education. Rather than mute witnesses to the injustice in society, to the plight of the weaker sections, to the erosion of democratic values in our country, the educated should react proactively and contribute to the re-emergence of finer values in our socio-political life'' Development of the country, he said, is not possible without some acceptible degree of equity. ''Unless development policies positively impact upon the lives of the ordinary citizens, they will have no meaning for them. '' UNI SB RR RN1900