Jammu: Governance in contemporary India must reflect the aspirations of the youth as the country today has more than 65 per cent of its population which is below the age of 35 years, Union Minister Dr Jitendra Singh said today.
Addressing a meet of northeastern students organised by the state unit of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Singh said, "In contemporary India, governance must reflect youth aspirations, particularly when India today is the world's youngest country with more than 65 per cent of its population below the age of 35 years."
Singh, the MP from Udhampur in Jammu and Kashmir and the Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office, said he hoped that whatever is the new government in the state, it would keep in mind the expectations of the youth while deciding on its priorities.
As to the meet today, he said it was a unique coincidence that students from eight northeastern states were sharing a platform with students in India's northern-most state to commemorate the memory of two of the greatest youth icons of 20th century India, Swami Vivekananda and Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.
Singh said it is a strange paradox that the legacy of Swami Vivekananda is being sought to be revived by observing 'World Brotherhood Day' as people now need to be reminded that their fellow human beings deserve to be treated with love and compassion.
Dwelling on the legacy of Mukherjee, Singh said that due to political bias, the former remains the most under-rated leader of post-Independence India and the most under-rated youth activist of pre-Independence India.
Referring to the problems of the youth, the Union minister said that while in J-K, the youth have been to a large extent deprived of vocational opportunities because of regional discrimination and deterrence to employment generation, there is a problem in the northeast of the exodus of students to other parts of the country because of lack of avenues in higher education and employment.
As the minister in-charge of Development of North-Eastern Region (DoNER), Singh reiterated Prime Minister Narendra Modi's exclusive vision for the region and referred to a series of new decisions taken during the last seven months.
These include setting up of a sports university in Manipur, opening of six new agricultural colleges, start of the first-ever train link between Guwahati and Meghalaya and setting up of a northeast para-medical institute.
He further disclosed that only two days back, the DoNER Ministry had taken a decision to organise visits to northeast on rotation by Union Ministers whereby every fortnight, eight Union Ministers will be visiting eight of the northeastern states.
Lauding the contribution of ABVP in organising community programmes for students from different parts of country, Singh said the organisation is inspired by ideology and culture, and not by any political objective.
