Focus on youth: for a developed, safe and beautiful India
Photo by Guduru Ajay bhargav
Sita Vasuniya, 25, was a Madhya Pradesh tribal lady just like any other until lately. Her life has altered ever since she was chosen to be the face of the most recent digital issue of the fashion magazine Vogue Italia.
Vasuniya is one of the 10 women who are a part of the Dhara self-help group, which was established as a component of the ambitious "Ek Jila Ek Utpaad" scheme launched by the Madhya Pradesh government as part of the Atmanirbhar Madhya Pradesh mission. Vasuniya is a resident of the village of Panala in the Dhar district.
Vasuniya crafts Maheshwari and Chanderi sarees and other clothing items with the help of a few of her friends.
The nation is proud of her image on the Vogue cover wearing a saree she designed herself. Many young people nowadays, like her, are dedicated to advancing their careers using what limited resources they may have.
The majority of Indians are young people like Vasuniya. Both a strength and a weakness for the nation is its young population. The nation has a major responsibility for their upbringing, professional development, employment, health, and general well-being. All of which cannot be sacrificed if India is to achieve its goal of being a $5 trillion economy and a world power.
Youths are capable in a variety of ways and are an asset to the nation. They pick up new abilities quickly, especially with regards to developing technologies. Approximately 54% of internet users in 2019 were between the ages of 20 and 39, according to a survey. Many of them have wisely used the internet. Through internet platforms, they have created opportunities for others to find work in addition to themselves. There are numerous online companies operating in India nowadays, like "Physics Wallah" in education, "Nyka" in the fashion industry, "Nyka" in job counselling, etc. The majority of them are now well-known brands and significant tech enterprises with little to no outside backing.
Youths have begun to identify themselves online as part of the ongoing fourth industrial revolution. They and their content may now reach audiences not only in their own country but also around the world thanks to digital connectivity. The young people of India began to compete in a healthy way as a result.
In order to increase youth's learning ability and make them more employable in the public and private sectors, policymakers and the government must first identify youths' learning capacities. Instead of lamenting the brain drain experienced by multinational corporations, which only employs 50 to 100 Indians in managerial positions.
Despite this, only 24% of Indian households have access to the internet, according to the national sample survey report on education. Only slightly more than 15% of rural families in India have access to Internet services, despite the fact that 66% of the population lives in villages.
There is a clear digital divide regardless of class, gender, area, or domicile. During the Covid-19 epidemic, it had a major impact on education. Students were required to attend online classes due to the national shutdown. Only 40% of the pupils were able to attend, and the remaining 60% are still having difficulty with their academics because there is no internet access.
If the government wishes to keep offering online education in this situation, it will need to develop the required support systems. If this isn't done, the disparity that already exists in the virtual world could lead to growing educational disparities among students.
Similar to this, the country has experienced a long period of stagnant employment generation. The youth are extremely dissatisfied with the government's lack of openings, slow appointment process, and low remuneration. They have been under pressure from their family and the wider community to find respectable employment with a living wage. Male youths in particular are viewed as the family's sole source of income. The family will be under financial strain if they are unable to find employment. They eventually fall into poverty as a result of this. Therefore, unemployment will put further strain on already overworked efforts and programs aimed at reducing poverty.
Youth unemployment has a negative impact on their emotional and physical health in addition to their social and economic lives. According to a poll by the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB), more occurrences of suicide due to unemployment were documented in 2019 than deaths among farmers. In addition, young people without jobs are more likely to engage in crime, illicit activity, and drug addiction.
According to a survey, the majority of Indians today believe in the value of education, which is why 71% of them are willing to even borrow money for their children's education. In this scenario, social dissatisfaction results if the child doesn't find employment after spending so much money on college.
Additionally, graduates experience approximately three times the unemployment rate, according to the 2018 NCAER survey. One in five Indian graduates who are unemployed has a jobless rate of over 19%. Thus, unemployment is still a significant problem in India.
The government should prioritise focusing on young. Before people become too elderly to work, they must take sincere steps that are in line with market demands and provide them jobs. But regrettably, a young person is only valued as a voting bloc. The policymakers hardly ever take into account its issues. As a result, the majority of young people without jobs begin to function as pressure groups.
It is important to note that the majority of young people interested in left-wing extremism are unemployed. Developmental programmes like PESA and MNREGA have numerous flaws. A significant improvement might be to give Gram Sabhas additional authority. The establishment of high-quality infrastructure and effective market connections at the village level will help the government to support the auxiliary and supportive activities in horticulture, poultry, fisheries, and animal husbandry that fall under the strict guidelines of the ministry of agriculture.
Only by securing the youth of India will India experience peace and prosperity. However, many young people have thus far wasted away in prison for crimes they did not commit. Bashir, a Kashmiri man who was charged under the UAPA in 2010, was recently discharged by a session court in Gujarat. He was not connected to any terrorist group, according to any evidence that was gathered. However, the criminal plot against Bashir squandered 11 years of his life that might have otherwise helped India prosper.
Similar to Bashir, other cases demonstrate how sedition and other criminal statutes like the UAPA, AFSPA, and forest laws are routinely misused. In fact, despite making up 8.7% of the total Indian population, the Scheduled Tribes or Adivasis accounted for about 13% of all convicts and 10% of them are currently awaiting trial in Indian prisons. This indicates a bias in the criminal justice system at present. The International Labour Organization's Convention 169, which relates to indigenous and tribal peoples and constituted a significant body of international legal instruments that can protect Adivasis within the Indian judicial system, has not been ratified by India.
Gandhi made the remark that law was intended to stifle individual liberty when he was accused of sedition by the British. Every youth in our country has the fundamental right to freedom of speech and expression as stated in Article 19. The beauty of an independent country like India will increase if their freedom is preserved. In addition, the Supreme Court once ruled that no criticism should be subject to sedition statutes unless it calls for violence.
To protect the safety and serenity of Indian citizens, the criminal justice system in India must also modify its rules and strict regulations. Police reform is currently demanded in that regard. The politicisation of the police system has led them to arbitrarily target adolescents. The mismanagement of law and order, including the absence of proof, savage beatings, and lynchings, not only wastes the time of the youth but also has an impact on the nation's economy.
India's demographic dividend is its greatest asset. Youth speak for the average person. They are the ones that have the ability to mainstream rural and urban issues. Most of the 4000 people who assembled on Raisina Hills in New Delhi to demand justice in the 2012 Nirbhaya case were young people who were peacefully protesting in the streets.
The Indian Penal Code, the Code of Criminal Procedure, and the Indian Evidence Act were modified as a result of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act of 2013, often known as the Nirbhaya Act. The term "rape" was expanded, "consent" was clarified, and the wording of the statute was altered to remove the burden from the woman.
Later, it even prompted the 2013 budget's introduction of the Nirbhaya Fund, which provided Rs 1,000 crore for programmes aimed at enhancing the protection, safety, and empowerment of women. The occurrence gave optimism and shown that the populace is aware of their rights, even though there hasn't been much of a change in the number of rape cases.
Only when men and women feel safe and empowered, with equality of opportunity, liberty, and dignity, can a nation genuinely advance. Unfortunately, women continue to experience violence, sexual harassment at work, and lack of leadership opportunities based on their gender. We must concentrate on their skill development and place young women in leadership positions in order to empower them. Government assistance programmes must to be available for woman-owned businesses- promoting female entrepreneurs in order to help them break through the glass ceiling and achieve financial independence.
Women should have an equal right to contribute to India's economy because the nation's wealth has also been used to invest in the education of women. In terms of population control, government spending on women's jobs and education is also worthwhile.
Women who are financially independent and educated will participate more in decision-making. She will be able to plan her family more readily and have better control over her reproductive rights. According to the IMF, India's GDP might increase by 27% if women's labour force participation is made comparable to that of men's.
However, without political representation for women, all aspirations for their empowerment remain empty. In order to close the gender gap in India—which presently ranks 135th out of 146 participating countries in the global gender gap report, 2022—political empowerment of women is also required. Therefore, policymakers should consider adding a women's reservation to the parliament.
Together, young men and women can improve India by fostering a culture of respect for one another's rights, privacy, and dignity. Even in upper middle class and progressive societies, we frequently hear about domestic violence and dowry deaths. In Kerala, where literacy rates are very high, there are an increased number of dowry deaths. Young, intelligent men don't think twice about asking for dowry. Perhaps our market rate is determined by other factors besides schooling. As a result, there is something lacking in our culture and educational system. These are the moral standards and ideals.
For the younger generation, life has become extremely difficult due to the economy's excessive market orientation and the disintegrating value system. The next generation of Indians should be trained to never compromise their moral principles. Elder folks have a duty to instil moral values in young people. Instead of telling the young people what to think, they should be teaching them how to think. They ought to be free to find their own truth and decide what is the proper course of human conduct.
Because youth's strength lies in their individuality, which cannot be attained by adhering to a herd mindset. Youths are losing their own conscience these days since they are more influenced by their peer groups. Their ability to use their imaginations is being diminished by their propensity to mimic others. Nevertheless, despite all of the bad characteristics, people can also be changed by adopting positive attitudes, behaviours, routines, and beliefs. To make young people partners in societal growth and nation-building, society must be sensitive to their expectations.
The current system needs to be all-encompassing in order to be able to move with the young and old with the correct viewpoint in order to make the youth of modern India more active involved in nation building. The youth of our nation must take the lead in driving change if we are to create harmony between the young and old and successfully run as a vibrant society.
And to realise a developed, secure, and beautiful India, every young person in this nation should share the same vision that APJ Abdul Kalam outlined in his song, "Song of Youth"-
As a young citizen of India,
Armed with technology, knowledge and love for my nation,
I realize small aim is a crime.
I will work and sweat for a great vision,
The vision of transforming India into a developed nation,
Powered by economic strength with value system,
I'm one of the citizens of the billion,
Only the vision will ignite the billion souls,
It has entered into me.
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