National Youth Policy of India 2014: Does it Meet Aspirations of Next Generation?

Overview:-

The population of India is expected to reach 1.3 billion by 2020. The median age of the population will be 28 years by 2020 which is considerably less than the expected median age of China (37 years). Along with the increase in overall population, India’s working population that majorly comprises youth is also increasing proportionately. India’s working population is projected to reach 592 million by 2020. This point to a fact that youth will make significant contribution to the economic development of the country.

Objectives of the Policy:-

The Indian Government’s vision for youth is "to empower the youth of the country to achieve their full potential and through them enable India to find its rightful place in the community of nations". The NYP-2014 states five key objectives to achieve this vision.

Objectives:-

1. Create a productive workforce that can make a sustainable contribution to India’s economic development.
2. Develop a strong and healthy generation equipped to take on future challenges.
3. Instill social values and promote community services to build national ownership.
4. Facilitate participation and civic engagement at all levels of governance.
5. Support youth at risk and create equitable opportunity for all disadvantaged & marginalized youth.

Priorities:-

• Education
• Entrepreneurship
• Employment & Skill Development
• Prioritizing good Health and promotion of a Healthy Lifestyle
• Sports
• Promotion of Social Values
• Community Engagement
• Participation in politics and governance
• Youth Engagement
• Focus on Inclusion
• Focus on Social Justice

Conclusion:-The National Youth Policy 2014 does focus on the needs and requirements of the youth and women in the 11 key priority areas as identified. The highlights of the policy include increasing access to education, ensuring equity, ensuring lifelong learning, vocational education and promoting skill development. Building capacity, improving access to finance, engaging stakeholders and also emphasized across all priority areas of the policy. On the downside, there is no specific mention about any extensive surveys focused on the Indian youth while formulating the policy. This could impact the validity of some of the policy measures. Further, the government has not yet aggressively marketed the policy using the growing internet and online media that are highly popular among the youth. Hence visibility of the policy is not very good.

Kumar is passionate about research and reporting, and he gives independent analysis of various published market reports, e-commerce & Internet, Energy & Power, Finance & Banking industry, Fmcg, Information Technology etc.