Fight corruption, join forces of growth: Venkaiah Naidu to youth

Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu on Thursday urged the youth to take a lead in fighting corruption, terrorism, extremism, religious fundamentalism and gender discrimination and join the forces of growth. Describing terrorism as the biggest threat to world peace and humanity, he said India always believed in peaceful co-existence with all nations while "one of the neighbours" was aiding, abetting and funding terror.

He asserted that India would not tolerate any outside interference in its internal affairs. Addressing the 10th edition of 'Chhatra Sansad' (students' parliament) here, Naidu said corruption was eating into the vitals of Indian democracy and called upon the youth to be at the forefront in eliminating the scourge of graft and other ills plaguing society.

Observing that India was the largest democracy, the Vice President said politics was a vehicle for serving the people, bringing about the desired socio-economic change, taking the country to new levels of development and strengthening the foundations of democracy, according to an official statement

"This is where young students - educated and informed citizens should engage more to have meaningful political participation," he said.

Touching upon the importance of the Constitution, the Vice President said everyone should follow constitutional methods to achieve his or her goals and pointed out that fundamental rights and duties go hand-in-hand.