Pics: Mohan Kuthar
Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (RJP)
Mangaluru, Jan 25: "India has the largest youth population in the world. But the youth in our country have failed to utilize the opportunities available to them. If the youth get proper counselling, they can contribute to the overall development of the country,” said S Y Quraishi, former Chief Election Commissioner.
Quraishi was speaking during the fourth convocation ceremony of Yenepoya University, held at the Yenepoya Endurance indoor sports complex on Saturday, January 24 in Deralakatte.
"70 percent of the Indian population is in the age group of 0 to 35. You cannot achieve development without their contribution," Quraishi added.
He also stressed on the importance of voting during elections and said that the Election Commission of India has initiated various awareness programmes to get more people to vote.
Quraishi further said that there are two major problems that elections in India face today - money power and voter apathy. "Money power destroys the level playing field. It needs to be regulated. There is a big problem of black money, which cannot be controlled though there are measures in place.
"The second problem is voter apathy. People do not come out to vote, especially the educated urban class. They think all netas (politicians) are rogues, but its not true. All netas are not dishonest. India has earned the respect of the world and achieved progress thanks to good political leadership and good democracy.
Lamenting that the educated urban class takes pride in not voting, he said such attitude must change and people who do not vote for no reason should be made to feel embarassed about it. "If voter turnout is low, then the legitimacy of the elected person is questioned. But what can any politician do if people do not vote? There were talks of making voting compulsory, but compulsion and democracy do not go together," he said.
"Our attitudes need to change. In order to create awareness on the importance of voting, especially among the youth, the Election Commission had youth icons like sports persons and actors as ambassadors. We also initiated various other programmes," he added.
One post doctorate, 18 PHD, 53 MD and MS, 42 MDS, 7 MPT, 22 diploma in bio ethics and diploma in medical ethics, 3 MHA, 61 MSc nursing and BDS, 12 post basic nursing, 79 BSc nursing, 11 BPT are some of the convocations included in the list of 318 students.
Yenepoya University chancellor Y Abdulla Kunhi was the chief guest.
Dr Mallika Shetty and Dr Roshan Tellis compered the event.
Former vice-chancellor of Mangalore University Prof M I Savadati, Yenepoya University vice-chancellor Dr P Chandra Mohan, former vice-chancellor of Bangalore University Prof K Siddappa, former vice-chancellor of Kannada University Prof B A Vivek Rai, chairman of Yenepoya Foundation Mohammed Kunhi, Dr H Ghulam Jeelani Quadiri, Dr B H Sripathi Rao, and others were present during the ceremony.