The young demography is famously the biggest strength of Indian
economy at this point in time. However, the rise in incidence of social unrest
and violence; spread of Naxalism; rising unemployment and serious deterioration
in the skill level of the educated youth suggest that if not managed properly
this may as well prove to be the nemesis of the fabled India story.
There could be no argument on the fact that Indian growth in
past two decade or so has miserably failed in creation of adequate productive
jobs for the burgeoning workforce of the country. MNREGA has helped to some
extent, but it is bound by fiscal constraints, leakages and lower productivity.
Disguised and underemployment also continue to impact the productivity and
earnings potential.
In our view, in spite of fully recognizing the potential of the
youth and the problems faced by them, successive governments have mostly failed
in implementing an integrated youth policy that would focus on harnessing this
tremendous reservoir of energy.
India has so far issued three editions of national youth policy.
The first
edition was a brief 5 page vision paper which recognized the
importance of youth but did not provide any conceptual framework for the growth
and development of this one third segment of the population.
The second
edition was issued in 2003 and contained a detailed framework for
the implementation. It recognized that “the question of employment is, at
present, of very serious concern for the Indian youth and that several social
issues arise out of widespread unemployment and under-employment of the youth”.
The policy emphasized that “critical issues in this area include a mis-match
between skills-requirement and employment opportunities, low technology levels,
low wages and low productivity, occupational shifts in employment,
under-employment owing to seasonal factors, excess labor supply in relation to
demand, migration of the labor force from the rural to urban areas and limited
participation of women in the work force, especially in the organized sector”.
Financial inclusion was included as one of the objective for the first time.
The policy was supposed to be implemented forthwith and reviewed
after every five year. The change in government in 2004 however meant that it
was hardly implemented.
The extant government has issued a draft
policy in 2012 with the goal of “empowering the youth of the nation
by bringing holistic development”. The objective, inter alia, include “Through
a sustained programme of education and training and appropriate support
services, help young people become economically self-reliant and productive
units of the country, either by taking up employment or by setting up their own
business enterprises.”
The policy has yet not been adopted. Given the political
scenario we would need to wait till the next government assumes office and
settles down “other priority issues”, before the next word is said on this
extremely critical and potentially explosive issue.
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