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

Overview:-

The population of India is going to reach 1.3 billion by 2020. The median age of population will be 28

by 2020 which is i not exactly going to be the median age of China (37 years). This point to a reality that youth will make noteworthy commitment to the financial improvement of the nation. Right now, youth in the age group of 15-29 years constitutes 27.5% of the India's populace.

The Indian Government's vision for youth is is to enable the adolescent of the nation to accomplish their maximum capacity and through them empower India to locate its legitimate spot in the group of countries. The NYP-2014 states five key destinations to accomplish this vision. Further, it identifies particular activities in 11 need zones, recognized as imperative for youth advancement. These are condensed in the table underneath.

Education, entrepreneurship, employment, health care, lifestyle, social values and politics are the key priority areas that are analyzed as part of the policy objectives.

Education:- The education policy measures are weighed against the youth’s needs and challenges faced by them. Among the important parameters analyzed include access to education in rural areas, gross enrollment ratio, infrastructure, social factors and financial issues.

Employment and Skill Development :- Employment and skill development is an important priority area in the NYP. The analysis focus on factors such as scale of the employment required, importance of un-organized labor, vocational education and importance of enterprise training.

Entrepreneurship :-A fast growing economy such as India calls for greater investments in startups and subsequent generation of fresh employment opportunities. This has been an area that has been largely ignored in India. The analysis here focuses on factors such as entrepreneurship, financial issues, and partnership between educational institutes and industries.

Healthcare :-The youth in India encounter both major and minor health issues. Health issues adversely affect the productivity of the youth. Hence, it is important for the government to ensure that these issues are addressed in the policy document. The analysis in this section is focused on health challenges faced by the youth such as common health issues, suicide cases, access to healthcare and impact of sex education in healthcare.

Lifestyle:- Owing to Globalization, the youth in India have access to multiple lifestyle choices. A few decades back, Indians did not have access to a wide variety of choices like they have today. The lifestyle changes can have a negative impact on the health of the youth in India.

Social Values:- India is a nation with multiple ethnic groups who follow different religions, languages and customs. This diversity brings along a wide socio-economic disparity across the country. Hence, it is very important to instill a sense of social values in individuals from a young age. This will help the communities to understand each other and move together to achieve the vision of a prosperous India.

Politics:-Politics is not a preferred career option among the youth in India today. Often, politics is chosen by individuals who fail to secure good job in the job market. This has resulted in shortage of talented youth in Indian politics. Politics in India is dominated by the older generation and youth has limited representation in decision making and governance processes.

The National Youth Policy 2014 highlights 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. https://www.dartconsulting.co.in/case-studies-pdf/National_Youth_Policy_of_India_2014_Does_it_Meet_Aspirations_of_Next_Gen.pdf

Kumar is passionate about research and reporting. His area of interests are market trends in Advanced Materials, e-commerce & Internet, Information Technology, Nano-technology and Politics