Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi on Wednesday urged the government to earmark 50 percent of the seats in central universities for students from rural areas.

Speaking at the foundation laying ceremony for a central university at Thiruvarur, around 300 km from here, he said: "The central government should permit 50 percent of the seats for students from rural background."

Laying the foundation stone, Union Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said: "Only 12 percent of the students from rural schools pursue higher studies, which is not sufficient. A nation can develop only when more students pursue higher education."

He said the central government has increased the allocation for education in the 11th plan to 14 percent from 8 percent earlier and has decided to set up 14 new universities across the country.

He said the new university is being set up in a rural area to facilitate students from villages to pursue higher education.
According to him, central universities will be given full freedom in designing their curricula and urged vice chancellors and professors to take their institutions to "new heights". IANS