What makes India a vibrant democracy are her youth. Half of India’s population is below the age of 25 and close to 65 per cent is less than 35 years old. With an average age of 29, India is set to be the youngest country in the world by 2020. Now that’s something to cheer about, you would say. But hold on for a minute. Let’s stop and think here. Are we ready to deal with this dynamic energy of our youth? Have we channelized our young men and women in the right direction? If we haven’t, then how can we develop a new generation of changemakers who can take on the responsibilities of our complex democracy? How are we empowering them with the necessary skills they’ll need to lead a change?
I have often observed during my visits to India that despite such a large youth population, there is not enough impetus from the government to actively involve the youth in democracy. Where are the young members of our Parliament, the young changemakers of our country who are educated, empowered and skilled in good governance?
No dearth of talent
Let me start by explaining the term ‘changemakers’ first. People we are inclined to label as such are those who lead and have the ability to face any challenge, identify issues and proactively look for solutions to overcome them. They are ready to take collective action and continually adapt to situations.
The need of the hour is for India to have more young people involved in the functioning of its democracy. Our country has enough talent, some world class, but somehow those who are bringing in the change at the grassroots levels don’t always get the necessary support from authorities.
Our Constitution starts with “We the People”, so I believe that we should be the agents of change. I always believe that there are three types of people in this world: those who make things happen, those who watch things happen and those who wonder what happened. We need to identify the first kind and empower them so that they can propel change at all levels of society.
India’s teachers, I believe, are very important, but often overlooked changemakers. Do you realize how much we underplay the impact teachers have on children, especially in their formative years? India has thousands of primary and middle-school teachers who directly influence the young minds in our country. Teachers influence the ability of future generations to be empathetic, think critically and become problem solvers. Our teachers are our unsung heroes, the silent changemakers who are equipping their students with the skills and capacities that will help them thrive in the world of tomorrow.
Sometime back I read about a girls’ school is Pune that was encouraging their students to identify an issue in their community and work towards solving it. I can imagine an initiative such as this producing confident and empowered women role models of the future. India’s teachers are the foot soldiers in the nation’s efforts to create a knowledge and intellect led society. It’s crucial we invest in them, the mentorship they are able to provide their student’s today will determine the impact our next generation has, on India and the world at large.
Innovating in R&D and through Start-ups
Research and Development is a field that can transform economies and empower nations in unprecedented ways. Across numerous sectors, from IT and Healthcare to Automotive Engineering and Renewable Energy, India is emerging as the world’s preferred R&D hub. If some of the biggest brands and industries in the world can leverage the abilities of our youth to achieve success, what’s keeping us from making this a focal point of our developmental efforts?
In recent years, students at India’s engineering institutions have developed indigenous flow batteries that can potentially store renewable energy at grid scale, microbial fuel cells that treat the wastewater of the textile industry while producing large amounts of electricity, and an high-energy ultra-capacitors that can charge for more than a million cycles – enough to last a lifetime and at a fraction of the cost of lithium-ion batteries. I’m only scratching the surface with these examples.
Young Indian researchers in healthcare are busy changing their world as well. Some of the innovations to come out of Indian labs recently include a silk polymer artificial vertebrae disc implant, a gel that protects farmers from the harmful effects of having to use pesticides, a much faster diagnostic tool to fight tuberculosis and advances in gene based cures for dengue, chikunguniya and Japanese encephalitis. This, once again, is not an exhaustive list.
Likewise, several Indian startups are among some of the most cited names in their industries. This huge gathering potential of innovations that are the first of their kind in the world shouldn’t be left untapped. All levels of administration, from local bodies to state and federal government, should emerge as active patrons of such innovators and their ideas. Being a global leader in a single major innovation can unlock huge economic and developmental impetus, and India has the potential to do so across several sectors.
More avenues for India’s youth to shine
Talent in any field can empower not just the person who has that ability, but several others around them. A single changemaker, in any field, has the capability to spawn a mini-economy of their own. Whether such a person is a young athlete, business-person, social-entrepreneur or motivated civil servant, these are people that need to be facilitated by policy makers.
A vibrant sporting culture is sometimes overlooked as an engine of change, but the cascading positives of sporting success are numerous – from general health to economic. Sporting bodies in India, the government and private federations must take a long-term view of development of sport, especially in rural areas. The same is true of institutions across the board – changemakers are found in all walks of life. Every day in India there is a hero who inspires us by creating genuine impact. I am an optimist and like to follow the stories of such individuals in the news. In recent times alone, I have read about a medical officer who has transformed health in a village in Uttarakhand, a couple from Pune who left corporate careers behind to empower change in a remote Manipur Village, women in Bihar who run an NGO that educates school dropouts and adults who are illiterate.
Development and nation building should not be seen as a top-down administrative ‘program’ oriented effort. Often all that needs to be done is to ensure that the inspired and motivated in society are provided with means and mechanisms they can use to create change. Every single changemaker has the potential to create an element that contributes to a thriving and prosperous India, whether at a scale that only affects their immediate surroundings or goes global. India needs to nurture and support such individuals, because as they say, “people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are usually the ones who do”.
