Facts & Figures of Indian politics & development.

Some facts about Indian political scenario at present:

Age of the oldest MP in the 14th Lokh Sabha (House of Parliament): 94 (May 2004) (its ridiculous this is pathetic. How can a 94 year old who cannot look for himself/herself can become a people's representative.

Youngest MP in the 14th Lokh Sabha: 26 years, Sachin Pilot (May 2004) (at least one positive note).

Average age of the MPs in the 14th Lokh Sabha: 52.7 (May 2004) (this needs correction. We need the average to be at least 35-40).

Number of women MPs in the 14th Lokh Sabha: 44 (May 2004, four less than in 1999) (This should up by at least 100 considering 33% reservation.)

Candidates with criminal background in UP who made it into the 14th Lokh Sabha: 12 (Intolerable not a single one should be in Parliament).

Position in the corruption index of 133 countries surveyed (2003): 83rd (survey by Transparency International)

SOME STATISTICS ON EDUCATION:

Expenditure on education in 2000-2001: 778.5 billion Rupees, equiv. to 4.11 % of the GDP of that year

Number of universities: 1950-51: 27 -- 2000-01: 254

Number of colleges: 1950-51: 578 -- 2000-01: over 10,000 (some estimate over 13,000)

Number of college graduates per year: 40 lakh (2 million) [BBC Jan 07]

Number of teachers in higher education: 1961: 62,000 (estimate). 1997: over 320,000 -- 2003: over 330,000 (estimate)

Number of students enrolled: 1961:17.9 million -- 1991: 72.4 million

Average number of students per teacher: 220

People partaking of higher education: 1 person out of every 14,000

Number of pupils at the City Montessori School in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 2002: 26,312 pupils (world record) [GBoWR].

India's working age population (15-60 years): 610 million (estimate 2003).

After seeing the above facts, everybody is feeling guilty and astonished with the way India is shaping out. More than half of the population is in working age group. We need leaders from this category. Considering the expenditure on education and the number of graduates passing out, we still lack of youth participation in Politics. We want neat and clean politics. My question to the so called great leaders is why that every issue in India is on the bias of reservation or religion. Let’s be practical. No body is ever thinking of common man, the common middle class. The government is always creating policies, which adds benefit either to the poorer sections or to some rich people. What about the middle class? We need fresh air and fresh water. We need fresh leaders, who can forecast, plan, implement, and get the results fast.

Venkat.Kondaveeti

National President.

Youth Democratic Front.