It is not enough to say that the youth or the young generation is the future of the country, rather this should become a reality, and it will only become so when the youth would be enough empowered and strengthened. the government and the society is quite hopeful with regard to the capacities of the Indian youth since they have the best suitable potential that can facilitate the growth and progress for the country but both the government and the society should analyse that whether the youth are properly developed or not, is the youth getting the sufficient opportunities and facilitates from their sides? According to the surveys and demographic statistics; Indian youth constitutes of more than 50% who are under 25 years, 30% who are of the age 10-25 years and apparently 40% who are of the age 16-30 years thus, with having such a high magnitude the participation of the youth just cannot be neglected in the process of development of India. And it becomes a high-priority for the government to look forward to the development of the youth at first.
Particularly in the Indian scenario the Indian youth can be classified into two big groups of individuals or categories: 1. Educated and Developed group of Youth, 2. Illiterate and Undeveloped group of Youth. Our society and country at large struggling from various social, political and economic issues and these issues have also affected the conditions of the Indian youth immensely. If we believe that the progress of the country lies in the hands of the youth then we cannot ignore their own problems, ignoring the issues of the youth is just like giving rise to other problems instead of minimizing them. And also we cannot neglect the undeveloped section of the youth and make the developed section of the same; wholly responsible for the growth of the country. thus focussing upon both of the sections of the youth is must and, see the irony that not even a single but both of the sections of the young generations are facing various problems in the present time which hinder their own growth, progress and improvement. Following are the various problems that the Indian youth are facing today:
PROBLEMS OF EDUCATED INDIAN YOUTH
- Jobs: the foremost problem that our youth faces is the lack of better jobs and that too in the public sectors. A huge number of youth gets graduated every year but the number of jobs is comparatively less. Since jobs in public sector provide better facilities, perks and incentives and prestige most of the young people want to avail government jobs. And the jobs which are available in the government sector; demand for working experience of many years, many competitive levels are attached with them and are very high profile jobs. Only a post graduate student or a Ph.D. scholar or an experienced person can aspire to grab those jobs, and thus graduates have to look into the private sector which is even though full of jobs but also invite with many other issues.
- Corruption: corruption has eaten up all the moral values of the human beings today, it has immensely affected the youth since it also gulps the good opportunities of their progress. The opportunities, facilities, jobs, authority, growth, or even the education can be bought by simply bribing some of the corrupted administrators/bureaucrats/officers.
- Educational issues: higher education in India is still very complex, not easily approachable and involves long process; that is why a large number of young individuals do not prefer to study after graduation since they want to become independent right after passing out their colleges. A very less number of youth want to get involve in research studies and higher education particularly those who have sheer patience and want to grab the most prestigious jobs after completing the studies.
- Increasing Competition: comparatively in public sector the factor of competition is increasing day by day, there is a whole lot of elimination done in the competitive exams than the selection. May it be NET/JRF, UPSC, SSC, IT competitive exams, a huge number of young individuals is eliminated and only a less number of them is selected; that creates a lot of frustration, dejection and disappointment among the youth. Moreover, Reservation issues are also faced along with the aforesaid issues, because the people applying in General Category feel more insecure as compared to the people of Reserved Category.
- Mental Pressure: frustration of grabbing a good job, settling in a permanent career, lack of opportunities somewhere create a mental pressure for the young people, they become insecure and perplexed about their growth and success.
- Lack of Opportunities: in the Indian scenario much of the attention and weightage is given to education and less attention to extra-curricular activities. It is believed that only through education one can settle his/her career but the youth of today is multitalented and have different aspirations. Education is an indispensible factor that cannot be ignored but if the person has the strong interest in sports, dance, writing, singing, painting, etc., then there is nothing wrong to choose those as the career streams. And that is where the youth faces a lack of opportunities, our government provides numerous of opportunities in educational sector but the aforesaid streams still need a whole lot of development so that the individual, parents and families see some sort of permanency in those.
PROBLEMS OF ILLETERATE INDIAN YOUTH
- Juvenile Crimes: due to illiteracy the youngster are found to be involved in crimes especially the small children under the 15 years get involve in stealing, bluffing, looting and sometimes even murders.
- Drug Addiction: drug/substance abuse and addiction is most commonly found among the illiterate and undeveloped youth, they at a very young age start smoking and drinking alcohol. There is no one to stop and guide them, the parents are themselves illiterate thus they do not feel guilty nor they punish their children for involving in bad company and unethical activities.
- Beggary: most of the illiterate people face the vicious cycle of poverty, they have no work to do, and they also do not have enough dignity to work at their own thus they find a simple way of begging for earning a livelihood. Beggary in India has increased in the recent years.
- Poverty: poverty becomes a cycle for the illiterate youth, they are poor because they have no education, that leads to joblessness, unethical activities, and finally back to poverty.
- Trodden Lives: life of the youth that is undeveloped and illiterate is completely messed up there is no progress, no improvement and thus life seems a bundle of burden. The living conditions are very poor, lifestyle has no definition, and then how can one expect such a part of the youth to become helpful in the process of development of the country?
The above mentioned factors certainly prove that Education is the crux of this whole phenomenon. And to fulfil the dream of becoming a developed country the every single young individual should become educated, in fact the government must set this as its highest priority and should pledge to make our India; an Illiteracy free nation. Besides this, the problems of the undeveloped youth should be dealt with seriousness and at first; they are the ones who need the desperate attention and focus of the government. In fact the educated youth can help the government in this big task; they also can participate in uplifting the undeveloped youth by volunteering in the different plans and strategies. The process of development of the country can only be attained in the state of equilibrium and this balance can be obtained only when the issues of the youth are better and properly resolved.
At a time when our prime minister boasts of being the youngest nation, we fail to understand that youth is a liability if not groomed properly! In an age of skill India, as a society, we have failed to ensure the development of young brains as a whole. If few fought against the odds, lack of the basic amenities and right platform marred their spirit to continue. It is required to first listen to young people and address their problems in an order.