Youth in India being dynamic and energetic in nature is the main driving force of the country. A country like India where youth shares the major portion of its population depends a lot on its youth workforce for the country's potential growth and overall development. Any country's rapid growth depends largely on the quality of education, skills and personal development of the youths of that country. Being the most motivated and energetic amongst the population, the youth of the country must be skilled and educated for the rapid progress and sustainable growth of the country.
Youth in India comprises 34.33% of the total population. As per reports by the United Nations, Indian population will be 17.97% of the total world population and a major portion of it will be the youth. A country’s development solely depends on how the youth of that country are directed to. Youths are the best form of resource the country has at present. In today's world, more than 600 millions people live in countries affected badly by violence, terrorism and unstability. Youths are a major concern as well as a great hope to sustain positivity.
Being from a vibrant democratic country like India, the challenges and opportunities faced by the youth of India are different from that faced by the youth in any other parts of the world.
The challenges in today's world, be it social, cultural, educational or economical offer significant opportunities to the youth of the country to showcase their strengths, knowledge and leadership qualities by solving these burning issues and contributing to the development and rapid growth of the nation.
Challenges amongst the youth in India:
1.Education: Quality education is the backbone of any country. You cannot expect a country to be prosperous and happy without giving much importance to the education sector. Leave aside higher education, in a country like India, there are no elementary schools in many remote areas of the country. Infrastructure and unavailibility of teachers are the additional issues. It's a big concern for a country such as India where the majority percentage of the population are youths. The scene at higher education is more worrisome. The percentage of students opting for higher education is much less than that of elementary education. It means a high percentage of students drop out from the school system and some of them even drop out at their earliest days of schools.
2. Employment: A big reason for the unemployability of Indian youth is lack of quality education. In today's world, degrees are secondary whereas skills are the primary requirement for employment. As per national employability report 2019, 80% of Indian engineers are unemployable that means only 3.84% of the engineers India produced are eligible for employment. Less focus on practical knowledge, less importance to soft skills and more focus on marks are the main reasons for the low quality of Indian engineering passouts. More inclination towards government jobs is also a major reason for less opportunities for employment in the country. The competition at the government job market is tremendously high. Very low number of students opt for entrepreneurship and that too the students from the metro cities and some of the tier 2 & 3 cities.
3. Guidance: Lack of guidance leads to confusion which directs to choosing a wrong option. Generation gap is also a big reason for this. A major portion of youths in India are facing the issue of lack of proper guidance. Be it regarding their career choice, life decisions and others, most of the youths have nobody to guide them properly. The marks and result oriented Indian education system is producing millions of degree holders every year but the sad part is that only a handful of Indian graduates are employable. The Internet is very helpful now in gathering information and knowledge. The source of guidance is virtual now. Still many areas in the country are yet to be introduced to the internet culture.
How can you contribute towards a self reliant India:
1.Entrepreneurship: India is becoming a global startup hub with 3 of its major cities seeing a high density in the number of startups. Bangalore, the silicon valley of India is the first choice for entrepreneurs of the country followed by Noida and Gurugram. At present India has 31 startups with unicorn status. Students from the premier institutes of the country are now opting for entrepreneurship over jobs which is indeed a great indication for the startup sector. The mindset of the students should be more inclined towards entrepreneurship than typical government jobs. A country producing a large number of techies and engineers every year has tremendous opportunity to be self sufficient in the software industry. Government is also encouraging entrepreneurs with campaigns like #makeinindia and #startupindia. Start working on your ideas, be an entrepreneur and try to solve the issues being faced by the country. There are lots of entrepreneurial scopes in the agricultural sector as well as in the animal husbandry sector in rural areas. Rural youth of India should be trained about the entrepreneurial opportunities in these sectors. This will increase employment generation in the rural areas as well as will improve the rural economy of the country.
2. Skill development: Skilled and educated youths are the strength of a nation. More emphasis towards skill development, creative art forms, and vocational training to the rural youths of the country can increase the entrepreneurship qualities among the youths. Introducing professional courses to the dropped out and non school going students will be beneficial for them in earning their livelihood. Youths in villages near you can be trained with various professional skills at your personal level. Rural Indian youths should be introduced to the technology, mediums and opportunities to help them earning their livelihood as well as to generate employment in rural areas.
Conclusion: India being a developing country is facing a lot of issues varying from political,demographic, geographical, economical to quality of lives. Youths in India are the biggest hope in making India a self reliant nation.