Popular Economics Blog by Ravikumar Pillai
Have a look at the infographics showing the percentage of youth not engaged in the education-training-employment loop. Globally, the ranking of India in the proportion of excluded - and shall we say wasted - young human capital is abysmally low. Pathetic is the more appropriate word. We have Senegal, Zimbabwe and Honduras for the dubious company.
Contrast this with China, the UK, France and the US. The situation is shameful.
As much as a quarter of India's youth is not ready for employment, gig-working or entrepreneurship. Lacking education, skill development and gainful and meaningful employment, the young citizens in India are on a rudderless flight. No wonder, the crime rate, drug abuse and antisocial activities are high among our ill-educated and aimless youth. They are vulnerable to manipulations by forces bent upon fanning their alienation for scuttling the Indian Dream.
If you look at the trend over the past five years since 2018, the 'nowhere people' - the youth whose dreams and aspirations are stunted - have only reduced marginally from 30 to 23%.
The Government, in effective collaboration between federal and state level administrations, needs to have a massive drive, a serious one at that, involving the corporations, Academic Institutions and NGOs to skill, upskill and handhold the youth to take up gainful and satisfying economic engagement, be that job, gig work or self-employment.
It is sad to see such colossal youth wastage in the country. It is a smoking volcano that we can no longer afford to ignore.
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