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Centre for better access to higher education: Sonia
| “Only 10 % of youth now have such access” |
AICC president Sonia Gandhi at the inauguration of the L.CT.L.Palaniappa Chettiar Memorial Auditorium at Karaikudi in Sivaganga district on Saturday. From left are Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram, University Grants Commission chairman Sukhadeo Thorat, Mr. Chidambaram’s mother Lakshmi Achi and State Finance Minister K. Anbazhagan.
KARAIKUDI: The United Progressive Alliance government was for increasing access to higher education, Congress president Sonia Gandhi said on Saturday.
Declaring open a modern auditorium at the Alagappa University here, she said only 10 per cent of the youth had now access to higher education and efforts were on to increase it to 15 per cent in every university and college.
“If we achieve our objective, many thousands of young men and women will receive the benefits of higher education. They would be in a position to contribute to the development and progress of the country.”
Speaking of the knowledge of ancient Indians, she said they were able to chart the movement of planets and unravel the mystery of the universe with just their power of observation and without any modern instrument.
The auditorium has been named after L.CT. L. Palaniappa Chettiar, father of Union Finance Minister P. Chidambaram. Along with University Grants Commission (UGC) grant and funds from elected representatives, the family of Mr. Chidambaram has also contributed for the Rs. 3-crore auditorium.
On the occasion, Mr. Chidambaram said higher education was as important as primary education. Primary education made children literate and skilful, whereas higher education gave an edge to the country in the path of development.
State Finance Minister K. Anbazhagan praised the Chettiar community for its contribution to the development of education in rural areas.
Stating that the community was known for its impeccable way of maintaining accounts, he said Mr. Chidambaram had gone way ahead by presenting budgets that received recognition at the global level.
UGC Chairman Sukhadeo Thorat said access to higher education was poor in India. It was just 10 per cent here compared to the global average of 23 per cent and 80 per cent in developed countries. The 11th Five Year Plan envisaged an increase in access, with a budget of Rs. 84,943 crore as against Rs. 9,500 crore in the 10th Plan. Vice-Chancellor P. Ramasamy appealed to Mr. Chidambaram to allocate Rs. 100 crore for taking up various infrastructure development activities in the university on the occasion of the birth centenary of philanthropist Alagappa Chettiar.
PL. Lakshmi Achi, mother of Mr. Chidambaram, and R. Dhandapani, Registrar, were present.
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