Poor prep for World Youth Day

RANCHI: Fifteen years ago, the United Nations (UN) declared August 12 as International Youth Day, with this year's theme being ‘Youth and Mental Health’. Though India is a signatory country of the charter that laid the foundation of the UN, it has made no plans to celebrate the day dedicated to the youth that form half of its population.
Jitendra Singh, former Union minister of state for youth affairs and sports, said, “Our country is witnessing a demographic shift and India’s ability to find it’s rightful place in the community of nations depends upon how we harness the latent talent of the young people of our country.”
As per the 2011 Census, Jharkhand is among the top five Indian states with 22.2% of the total population being in the adolescent stage (10-19 years).The percentage of population, however, drops to 18.3% in the age group of 15-24 years. This shift lays bare the fact that the youth programmes of the state needs a closer look.
Statistics also reveal the potential of the youth to influence the development of the country. The report of the National Youth Policy of 2014 compiled by the Union ministry of youth affairs and sports says that people in the age group of 15-29 years comprise 27.5% of the national population and contribute to 34% of Gross National Income.
Faisal Zishan, the cultural and sports secretary of the marketing department of XISS, said, “The government needs to be proactive about youth affairs. Unless we are aware of our rights, we will not be able to exercise them for our benefits.” Dadan Choubey, director of the state department for sports and youth affairs, said, “We’ve never commemorated the day”.
Throughout history, youth have been known to bring about paradigm shifts – from winning independence for nations to creating new technologies and discovering new forms of art and music.