India’s demographic dividend on display: how 4000 youth have taken charge in Latur district.
On the Road!
When one reads or speaks about India’s demographic dividend, it is usually in the context of a large BPO or software work-force, or booming consumer markets, i.e. an engine for economic growth. Often, the flip side is also presented by worried social observers when they ponder over disgruntled, unemployed youth fueling Naxalism or extremism.
But, there’s hardly any talk of how youth can totally transform the social landscape of India in a substantive manner.
In this context, what I encountered during my Latur trip was simply mind-boggling. No less than 4000 volunteers( 3200 males & 800 females), spread across 1000 villages, are engaged in solving real problems in their neighborhoods.
After initial training by Unicef, in which 4 volunteers from each village participate, they go back with confidence.
One of the volunteers, Amar Jadhav, narrated this story to me: when he and others heard about an impending adolescent marriage in their village( Kishorigarh), two volunteers – accompanied by the Sarpanch & few villagers – descended on the house.
After initial resistance, the family relented and waited till the daughter turned 20!
The scale and impact of such efforts is truly breathtaking, as is the manner in which volunteers have neatly meshed with the local Panchayats, village communities, as well as the government.
I was curious to understand what really motivated these youngsters to volunteer, and be so committed, and asked several of them. The simple answer is that they get respect and life skills. Going forward, some hope to become Panchayat members themselves, while others have ambitions to join the police, or even politics!
If only we can replicate this story across India, then India’s demographic dividend can truly become a powerful engine for economic and social growth.
