Excelsior Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Apr 2: Addressing a youth congregation here, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), MoS, PMO, Personnel, Public Grievances,Pensions, Atomic Energy and Space, Dr Jitendra Singh said, tomorrow’s world is destined to be ruled by “Young India” since India is fast emerging as possibly the youngest in the community of world nations and hence the planet’s largest resource pool of youth potential.
Citing the example of China, Dr Jitendra Singh said, while that country is beset with the problem of majority of its population being in elderly age group and hence now encouraging couples not to stick to one-child policy, in India, it is soon going to be other way round.The day is not far, he said, when, instead of Indian youth going abroad in search of greener pastures, it will be foreigners coming to India in search of Indian youth.
Dr Jitendra Singh said, with over 65% of country’s population below the age of 35 years, during the next few years, the Indian youth population will not only be a vital and a crucial resource bank for India but in fact for the entire world. Whether anybody likes it or not, the truth is that in the decades to come, the technical force, the skill force and the man force for every diverse activity across the length and breadth of the world will be provided by none other than the youth of India and this will make the entire world helplessly dependent on India’s youth potential, he added.
It is, therefore, imperative, Dr Jitendra Singh said, that we begin to engage the youth in every sphere of activity and define progressively increasing role for the youth if we seriously wish to achieve and sustain the goal of India becoming a world power. The manner in which, under the able leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, India has embarked on the fast track of all-round development during the last 22 months , one can reasonably conclude that by the year 2022 when India celebrates 75 years of its independence, the signals of India’s supremacy in the world arena would begin to become visible and the architect of this would primarily be a visionary leadership supported by a determined youth force,he observed.
As far as the Department of Personnel & Training (DoPT) is concerned, Dr Jitendra Singh referred to a revolutionary decision directly related to the youth wherein the Government decided to do away with the age-old practice of getting the certificates attested by a Gazetted Officer/Notary, etc., and instead allowing the youth to self-attest their certificates. This is intended not only to increase the participation of the youth but also to reiterate the Modi Government’s faith in the youth of India.
During his brief tenure as Minister of Science and Technology, Dr Jitendra Singh recalled, he had initiated the experiment of choosing young students at the high school level and making them go through science internship so that they could realize their aptitude. In his capacity for Minister for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), he said, first of its kind initiative was taken by starting the process of holding regular meetings with students and youths not only in different States of Northeast but also those living in the Union Capital of New Delhi. Such interactive approach, he said, has in fact enormously benefited us by helping us to orientate various policies of the Government to the basic aspirations of the youth for whom these policies are meant to cater in the future decades.
Similarly, he said, an initiative has been undertaken to involve young scientific brains and make them realize the esteem of working and becoming a part of India’s most ambitious space programme which has given India an unusual supremacy among the exclusive space club of the world.