Friends for social science awareness

kolkata: it all began when four classmates from jadavpur university — angira, nazneen, debasree and imankalyan - put their heads together soon after they entered the university to create better social awareness among the underprivileged and the youth. they also got some like-minded people to support the project. a few months down the line, their idea seems to have borne fruit.the newly founded eastern institute of social sciences and culture - built mostly by students - is all set to be launched on saturday through a youth convention. the convention that will be held at the bangla academy will feature a symposium on 'modern youth and social development' where more than 30 college and university students are expected to participate, apart from a number of academicians. the main aim of the organisation is to involve youngsters in social development and forming a strong base of indian culture specially among the youth, explained angira sen sharma, one of the co-ordinators. her friend and fellow co-ordinator debasree datta said, the membership is open for students who have completed their higher secondary examination and have an interest in indian culture. teachers of social sciences and languages will also be invited. life membership will cost rs 500 with a monthly fee of rs 15. annual membership has been fixed at rs 100 with a rs 10 monthly fee, informed convenor iman-kalyan lahiri. he and his friends also started a youth forum called 'aikalya' six years ago after passing out of school, to organise cultural programmes. after joining ju we figured it would be better to have a registered body, which would not only hold functions, but also promote serious academic work and encourage youngsters to study social sciences, he said. to begin with we will ask all our members to donate text books and books on social sciences. we want to help start small libraries in schools which cater to the poor. we will also organise periodic essay and drawing competitions among underprivileged children, said angira.