Youth – feeding the future. Addressing the challenges faced by rural youth aged 15 to 17 in preparing for and accessing decent work.
Writing in the context of India
The present generation of youth is much hyped as the Real Human Capital. Demographic Dividend to be reaped by utilizing the same force which is completely not equipped to face the challenge is the biggest issue now.
The policy for Employment vide MGNREGS - the world's largest Employment Guarantee Programme has come in handy to look forward to. (If the labour force from this young masses are not skilled)
But the moot question for both male /Feamale youth in Rural areas is the lack of Skill at present.
In this direction Government of India has come out with blueprints to skill them in a massive scale.
The name of the programme is Deen Dayal Upadhya Grameen Kaushal Yojana (DDUGKY).
Here in we are giving training on different trades as per the demand to be generated in the coming 30 years both in INDIA as well as abroad.
The uncared for areas/ trades/skills are seriously taken care for.
Ex - Driving with right Training. Transport sector repair work/ Health care/ Teaching - particularly Primary and secondary school. Yoga. Tourism. Care services - particularly of the aging population.
Hitherto these areas have never been taken care of with certified training by recognized Institute.
Government has come in a big way to fill this demand of these services and the supply of these services.
One challenging area in India is the dream for whitecollar jobs and the desire to come to Uraban centre. There is no aspiration to continue in Rural areas and earning a livelihood there.
The lure of Urban centre need to be shattered by creating same level of Urban amenities. In this direction PURA(Provisioning of Urban Amenities in Rural Arteas, develomnet of SMART Cities, Development in Small/Medium Towns are the latest attempts by Government.
Another area of concern is the disenchantment to join the Agriculture and Allied sector by Rural Youths(both male and female).sis because of the non-viability of Agriculture and allied sectors as a source of Livelihood.
In this direction there is an attempt to increase the productivity and diversify the activities in Rural Areas.
It is really a Himalayan task to create employment and productively engage the Rural Youths (15 to 17 years today) in future. If this is not taken of seriously perhaps this Homan force will be the real time bomb to challenge the prosperity of any kind.
Pradip Kumar Nath