What The Narendra Modi Government Means To Indian Youth

On July 10, the Narendra Modi-led government presented the Union Budget for the fiscal year 2014-2015 in the Parliament. This budget was probably the most eagerly awaited one in the recent times, supposedly giving the people of India a broad contour of policies that would characterise the party’s governance of the country in the coming years. In brief, it is a broad policy indicator or blueprint of the direction.

Disgruntled with the UPA government’s policy and governance paralysis, characterised by low growth rates, persistently high inflation and unemployment rates, and high profile corruption cases among many other ills, the youth of India voted decisively in favour of BJP’s Prime Minister-designate Narendra Modi for ushering in a revolution of sorts – the kind he has supposedly brought in Gujarat as its three-time chief minister. Impressed with the much-hallowed Gujarat Growth Model, the people of India, especially the youth, wanted Modi to replicate his magic elsewhere in the country. And the result? The BJP, with Narendra Modi at its helm, commanded a thumping majority, routing other political parties in the Lower House of the Indian Parliament – something that was never witnessed in India after the 1984 general elections.

The youth thus formed a very decisive constituency for the BJP and after a careful study of the Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s budget speech and proposals, it emerges that the government has certainly kept in mind the needs and aspirations of this class of voters – the young hopefuls of a resurgent and vibrant India.

We have a very intelligent and pragmatic finance minister in Arun Jaitley who has been extremely articulate on major issues plaguing this country, especially the economic and the social issues. As a student, I have had a chance to listen to his vision and ideas for the country when he was invited as the chief guest and came for the annual day celebrations of our college, about two months before the general elections. He touched upon many issues concerning the country and his insights impressed everyone present. He promised to make the youth the centrepiece of his party’s growth and development agenda, if BJP was voted to power. He seems to have kept his promise as evident from his budget allocations and proposals.

No society can ever prosper without investing in health and education at all levels – primary, secondary and the tertiary. It is an era of human capital and knowledge economy today. It is, therefore, obligatory on the part of any government that it should invest in these two sectors as much as possible. Apart from focusing on the expenditure outlay, authorities should keep a tab on the outcome as well, to see if the money being spent is utilised as intended and if there is any value-addition happening.

Besides ensuring economic stability, investment and job creation should also be the focus areas of the government. And it seems that the government has taken the right steps in the right direction. Budget proposals, if implemented in right earnest, would go a long way in transforming our life. The only problem lies in its execution and implementation. But to be honest, till now we have not performed satisfactorily when it comes to successful implementation of any kind.

The singular most important aspect of having the youth on the priority list of any government is that they represent energy and happen to be the future of a country. It is more so in a country like India where close to 65% of its 1.2 billion people are aged 35 or less.

The youth is just that – youth. Unlike many other things, you cannot discriminate them on the basis of gender, class, religion, geography or on any other conceivable line. They belong to 21st century India and are rising above the colonial mindset or the feudal mentality that plagues our society at times. They are aspirational and have the drive to achieve what they want. All they need is a suitable environment that will facilitate growth and development, and help them realise their true potential. They don’t want to see the government as their benefactor; rather they wish to see it as their facilitator.

The government must prioritise their cause in a bid to reap the demographic dividend by investing in the human capital. Otherwise, it may well turn into demographic liability for the country and the outcome may spell serious trouble for India. However, with the right strategy and policy implementation, India may soon turn into a global superpower and serve as a role model for other nations.

About the author: Bipin Srivastava is a student and views expressed in this article are his personal views.