Harish Hande, Magsaysay Award winner, said on Saturday that youth should be catalysts of change for the country’s development.
Rural residents could be partners in finding solutions to a lot many problems in the country, he said.
He was speaking after inaugurating the first edition of the two-day national conference on ‘Youth in Social Change’, organised by the Volunteer Services Organization of Manipal University, here.
About 600 students from different institutions of the State and outside are participating in the event.
With the focus being on youth and their role in social change, Dr. Hande said that a change within individuals was of paramount importance, before setting out to change others.
“I would not have gotten into IIT, Kharagpur if all 300 million students wrote the entrance with me. Yes, system is at fault but so are we.”
He went on to say that his education at IIT was subsidised because the government paid for it.
“And where did the government get that money? From the poor and the tax payers, obviously. In return what are we doing for the poor?” he asked.
Speaking from experience, Dr. Hande posed yet another question.
“If I have a Ph.D in farming, do I qualify to be an expert on the subject, or, is the one who spent 40 years farming better qualified to talk on the subject? Here’s where we lack. The poor also happen to be experts in various fields, learn from them, try to engage their ideas as well,” he said.
Founder and CEO of Teach for India, Shaheen Mistri, led the first session.
“The intellect of Nehru, moral fibre of Gandhi and compassion of Mother Theresa is what sets apart Teach For India from other NGOs,” Ms. Mistri said.
Emphasising the number of youth who fail to make complete use of the education provided, she said there were three golden numbers: 4% of Indian children never go to school, 42% drop out before finishing primary school and 76% drop out before entering university.
Anup Naha welcomed the gathering. H.S. Ballal, Pro Chancellor of Manipal University, presided over the function. Navneet Upadhyay proposed a vote of thanks at the event.