Youth development is a process that prepares a young person to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood and achieve his or her full potential. Youth development is promoted through activities and experiences that help youth develop social, ethical, emotional, physical, and cognitive competencies.
The value of a country is assessed not by the riches or assets it possesses, but by its people. A nation may be wealthy, but what's more important than the actual wealth is the collective intellect and intelligence of the people who contribute towards earning that wealth.
The youth of a nation determine how it shapes up a few years into the future; they are the future of the country, and their actions and inaction both contribute to the state of the Nation. In developing and promising countries like India, the youth of the Nation can contribute to its growth by Exercising their franchise. India is proud of the fact that she is the world's largest democracy, for it to be governed efficiently, it has be done by people who are developed for this purpose. Bringing in positive change: India is challenged by various social ills. The youth of the country can use their education to battle these problems that plague the country - they can fight every social ill that keeps a nation down and prevents it from progressing at the speed it should.
Using their education for the good of the country: Countries develop and become better when more of their youth are educated, and when this education is used for the greater good of the nation. India is leaping ahead of most other nations in terms of infrastructure and opportunities, but the mindsets also need to change at the same pace. If the youth of a country are educated and willing to go the extra mile to effect positive change, miracles can happen.
All through history, youth have been the harbingers of change - from winning independence for nations, to creating new technologies that change the status quo, to new forms of art, music and culture. Supporting and promoting the development of India's youth must be one of the foremost priorities, across all sectors and stakeholders, of any Nation.
India has the largest youth population in the world that is poised to increase further in the coming decade. 70% of India's population is below the age of 35 years. It is indeed vital to utilise this demographic dividend and channelize the youth and their creative energies for nation-building. For this it is essential that the economy supports the increase in the labour force and the youth have the appropriate education, skills, health awareness and other enablers to productively contribute to the economy and Nation building.
Youth in the age group of 15-29 years comprise 27.5% of the population. At present, about 34% of India's Gross National Income (GNI) is contributed by the youth, aged 15-29 years. However, there exists a huge potential to increase the contribution of this class of the nation's citizenry by increasing their participation and their productivity.
The National Youth Policy, 2014 (NYP-2014) seeks to define the vision of the Government of India for the Youth of the Country and identify the key areas in which action is required, to enable youth development and to provide a framework for action for all stakeholders. The vision as defined in NYP is "to empower the youth of the country to achieve their full potential, and through them enable India to find its rightful place in the community of nations".
