Rajya Sabha Deputy Chairman Harivansh Singh has underlined the need for a positive response by intellectuals and political parties in resolving basic problems to help the country progress.
"The thinking that everything will be done by the government is not right... the intellectuals of the country and the leaders of political parties need to take a positive initiative to resolve the basic problems," he said.
Singh was talking to newspersons in his native village Daljit Tola in Jaiprakash Nagar here Tuesday night.
"Only in such an eventuality, will India be able to take its position of pride in the emerging society of knowledge at the global level," he said.
"Almost 17 per cent population of the world resides in India which constitutes only two per cent of the land area... in the coming four to five years, it will emerge as the most populous nation... the problems of foodgrains, housing and environment due to population pressure are the basic problems faced by the country," he said.
"You talk to any politician of any party, they will also express their concern on these issues," he said.
Singh said knowledge societies were being set up across the world but India's position in this emerging society of knowledge was a matter of concern.