Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has started drawing a new blueprint to channelize the energy of the youth in state-development activities and end the shattered dreams, broken hopes of the youth. This is a commendable step and is also important because millions of youths who have returned home and lost their jobs during the gruesome period of Corona. The state government has taken an innovative initiative to bring back the withering smile of the youth by taking a pledge to employ 10 lakh youths and make them employees. He will plan to introduce skill activities with the help of skill development centres within a year. The youth will not only lead, will make their dreams true and also develop new wings. It is obvious that the current political top leadership of the nation will not only look at this young population but also consider it their pride. Of course, there should be no doubt that youth is our strength.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has recently said that when looking at the whole world, looking at the young minds of India, it seems that today India is truly a land of opportunities. Many opportunities await us.
India is the youngest country in the world. According to the 2011 census, the number of people aged 25 years in the country was 50 percent and people aged 35 years were 65 percent. These figures show that we are citizens of a young country. Yet governments are not serious about the use of creative and innovative energy of these youths in nation development. Why is the government not providing employment to the youth of the country? Why is the participation of youth in the government’s schemes dark? Why youth are committing suicide due to unemployment? Actually, the actual level of youth of India is connected with many problems and harsh reality.
Neglect and flagrant activities are the reality of the real young population of India. It also has many categories. Youth seeking employment, youth working hard, youth agitating on the road demanding better education, youth engaged on social media, youths raising slogans at leaders’ rallies are all youth of our country and it is our youth India. The biggest capital of any country is considered to be the youth. It has been said in the same sense - “The way youth goes, the way the world moves.”
On the shoulders of the youth, there is also an undisclosed responsibility to take the country, state and society in forward direction. Therefore, the Yogi Government has taken a far-reaching decision and has set an exemplary example by taking the decision of harnessing the energy of youth in state-building. The Yogi government will not only provide employment opportunities to these youth, but will also enable them to build their own enterprise. This is the need of the hour and from this, new freshness and trust will emerge in the withering young faces.
Amidst the growing data on the erratic economy and constant snatching of jobs due to the Corona epidemic, employment of youth should be a priority in front of all state governments and the central government. The question is, where will the fund come from to fulfill the promises of providing new jobs? The problem is big and the path of solution has to be chosen too. Successful leadership is a game of magical and charismatic methods, which shows the magic in its leadership as much as it takes the courage and capability to make big decisions. From the point of view, Yogi Adityanath has been performing magic tricks. Their intention and vision is clear and transparent that they want to present new employment opportunities with the active cooperation of youth in the development of the state.
The decision of employment in large numbers in Uttar Pradesh may be considered a political decision, but it is also a strong basis for efficient and effective leadership. It is not without reason to understand the pain of the youth and to pay constant attention to the Yogi. It is not that the previous governments did not prioritize carving the youth. In the four years before 2017, the Department of Vocational Education and Skills Development had trained 3.71 lakh youth. The number of those trained in Yogi Raj has doubled (seven lakh). Such achievements make the Yogi Government unique and effective. In view of this, the goal of training 10 million youth is of course difficult, but not impossible. The government has already given proof of its ability by certifying the skills of the 38 lakh migrants who returned home in the lockdown. The fresh target also rests on strong infrastructures. Its foundation will be State Industrial Training Institute i.e. ITI.
Today, India has the largest number of youth in the world. Every fifth youth of the world lives in India, if this youth power is given a good education and skill training, they will not only get good employment but they can also contribute well in the economic development of the country. In corona times, the system may be derailed, but as the country has not been generating enough jobs in the recent past and unemployment is increasing especially among the youth, many new problems are emerging as a result. The corona epidemic has exacerbated this problem.
According to the report of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, salaried jobs are getting affected the most during the contraction of economic growth. Salaried jobs also do not appear to be increasing with economic growth or increasing entrepreneurship, which is a matter of greater concern. This shows that unemployment is spreading among the youth of today. This situation is highlighting the need for governments to be more sensitive on the issue of employment.
The problem of unemployment is a worldwide problem. Many developed countries like the US, UK, Canada, Australia and Singapore are also grappling with the problem of unemployment and are changing visa policies to protect protectionism and employ local people. Although the Central Government has also implemented schemes like ‘Startup’ and ‘Stand Up’ to create new jobs for the youth, but the result is not coming out as expected, due to lack of funds and good skilled people, most of the ‘startups’ today are closed.
The most important scheme of the present government ‘Make in India’ has also failed to create new jobs. There is a need to give a boost to the service sector in the country in such a complex time, where there is more possibility of creating new jobs in the future. A few days ago, Vibek Debroy, member of NITI Aayog, said the same thing ‘In the coming years, most of the employment will be in the service sector and not in the manufacturing sector’, which includes tourism, hospitality, health care, renewable energy, education, telecom and banking. If the government does not take positive steps in this direction soon, then the youth of the country, which is called the ‘Demographic Dividend’ of the country, should not become a ‘Demographic Disaster’ for the country.
Today, the goal of the Narendra Modi government and state governments should be not only to enhance the economic growth rate of the country and the state but also to create new employment. With this, the country’s economic growth rate will automatically accelerate. In the last 20 years, even after the country’s economic growth rate was very high, there was very little creation of new employment, due to which this period is also called ‘Jobless Growth Period’. The Yogi government of Uttar Pradesh, taking these conditions seriously, will definitely see positive results, other states and central government should also take inspiration from this. Returning to this track, the first priority of the economy and governments should be employment. Otherwise, the discontent and resentment that is developing among the youth within them should not become the cause of any major revolution and rebellion? |
