WINDS OF CHANGE

I see a large number of discontented young people. During the last 20 years so much progress was made in the field of education. We have satisfied the popular urge for education, but we have given birth to hundreds of new problems out of this educational system. Now there is an army of educated youngmen in the rural and urban areas. The young son of a farmer who gets educated is an object of pride to the parents, because for generations there was no education in the family and they are proud that their son is a graduate, a double graduate. But when the young man thinks in terms of employment, he finds ultimately that he is a loss to the parents, a loss to to the farming society. At the same time he has not found his own feet in terms of the economic betterment of his family. Now young people are going without employment, and without hope of employment. What are we going to tell them? Are we going to tell them. "Look here friends, you are educated, you must be reasonable, rational, you know our country is making progress; our rate of growth is rather slow; wait for some time, starve for some time till we reach the stage of take-off, and have a little patience"? It is a very rational argument, but not a human argument. So these are the very definite challenges before us. There is a restlessness. This is the main reason for a continuous dialogue for solution of economic problems. The main question is whether we are making any impact on the social problems that are around us. That is the main concern of this continuous dialogue in the country, and I must say that this dialogue will have to continue. This party, which historically speaking, is a reflection of the people's aspirations, is not just a political party in the modern sense of the term — I have always believed that the Congress party is one of the political miracles. It never was founded as other political parties are founded. This party has grown over the years in response to the people's anger, people's reactions, people's despair, their hopes, their emotions. This is how our party has grown. Even in the days to come, it will have to continuously go on thinking about problems and the challenges that are around us.