By IANS
Guwahati : A survey among youths in Assam has revealed that their general knowledge is below par with 95 percent of the respondents not knowing that there is a separate ministry for the northeast at the centre.
Not just that, 46 percent of those surveyed said there should be one! What is more surprising is that 62 percent of the respondents were not aware of Assam’s population while 73 percent did not have a clue about the state’s literacy rate.
And if 38 percent of those did not know where money came from at the ATMs, a small five percent of those surveyed thought Sensex has something to do with sex!
These findings are contained in a survey conducted by a local monthly magazine ‘Jiban’ among 2,270 students and youths in the age group of 15 to 40 in more than a hundred villages and towns across Assam.
The only silver lining, according to the highlights of the Youth Awareness Survey, is the health awareness level among the youths.
As much as 91 percent of the respondents knew that kissing does not spread AIDS and 93 percent were aware that jaundice is a water-borne disease.
What is amazing is the lack of awareness among those surveyed about several common facts concerning Assam’s history and politics.
Thirty seven percent of the youths surveyed did not know that the Assam Accord signed in 1985 to end the six-year-long anti-foreigners stir had set March 25, 1971 as the cut-off date for detection and expulsion of illegal migrants from the state.
And 27 percent of the respondents thought that the Saraighat Bridge over the river Brahmaputra in state capital Guwahati was built by the Ahoms, a dynasty that ruled Assam for 600 years starting 1,228 AD. This bridge in fact was opened to traffic in 1962 by then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.
The questionnaire-based survey was conducted by local coordinators of ‘Jiban’ magazine led by its editor Suresh Ranjan Goduka, who is also a TATA-RGVN (Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi) senior fellow.
At least 90 percent of those surveyed knew Baichung Bhutia is a footballer although six percent thought he was the king of Bhutan!