YOUTH
AND SPORTS
YOUTH AFFAIRS
2.7.1
While the role and contribution of youth is
of vital importance in all countries, it is
particularly significant in a country like
India where the proportion of the youth in
the country's overall social and demographic
profile is continuously increasing. According
to the 2001 Census, there were approximately
355 million people in the 15 to 35 age group,
74 per cent of whom lived in rural areas.
The number is expected to rise to approximately
510 million by 2016. Both central and state
governments need to harness the energies of
this large group, providing them with adequate
infrastructure of world standards for excellence
in sports at national and international levels.
Achievements since Independence
2.7.2
The importance of youth in national development
has been a recurring theme in all Five-Year
Plans. The National Discipline Scheme was
introduced in the Second Plan and continued
in the Third Plan. The Fourth Plan gave special
emphasis to the needs of the youth and to
leadership training. Support was provided
to voluntary organisations to participate
in youth development programmes. Community
service was developed as an integral part
of the educational curriculum. The Fifth Plan
laid emphasis on the expansion and strengthening
of the National Service Scheme (NSS) and the
Nehru Yuva Kendras (NYK). The National Service
Volunteer Scheme (NSVS) was launched during
this Plan period. In the Sixth Plan, an effort
was made to have effective coordination of
different programmes.
2.7.3
The sector received a major boost in the Seventh
Plan, when a National Youth Policy was framed
and a Plan of Action formulated in 1992. Plan
allocations saw an eight-fold increase, from
Rs. 26.54 crore in Sixth Plan to Rs. 306.35
crore. The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
made major strides during the Eighth Plan
period. The number of NYKs went up from 398
to 500, the number of youth clubs affiliated
to the Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS)
touched 1.79 lakh and 1.3 million volunteers
were enrolled under the NSS by the end of
the Plan period. The Eighth Plan and the National
Youth Policy laid stress on organising the
youth for promoting national and cultural
integration by fostering interaction between
young people from different parts of the country,
especially those from the isolated border
and tribal areas. It also emphasised awareness
building and involvement of the youth in social
programmes relating to literacy, environment,
health and family welfare and community development.
The allocation for youth and sports programmes
was increased to Rs. 349 crore and then to
Rs. 826.09 crore in the Ninth Plan.
Thrust in Ninth
Plan
2.7.4
The thrust in the Ninth Plan was on harnessing
yuva shakti (youth power). The National Youth
Policy emphasises: 1. Involving young persons
in various community-based nation building
activities and a new scheme called National
Reconstruction Corps (NRC) to involve youth
volunteers in such activities. 2. Youth empowerment
and gender justice through an inter-sectoral
approach. 3. Providing special attention to
education, training and employment, health,
environment, sports, recreation and leisure,
art and culture, science and technology, etc.
73
TENTH FIVE YEAR
PLAN 2002-07
4. Developing
the interest of youth in development- oriented
programmes. Review of Performance in Ninth
Plan
2.7.5
During the Ninth Plan, the NYKS was able to
extend its activities to a larger number of
villages and it now has offices in almost
500 districts. The NYKS took up several new
initiatives to involve the rural youth - by
motivating them to organise themselves into
youth clubs and self-help groups. Schemes
like the NSVS, Financial Assistance to Youth
Clubs, Award to Outstanding Youth Clubs and
Youth Development Centre have been successful
in encouraging young people to take up development-oriented
programmes. The NYKS also took up major programmes
under the Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana
(SGSY), being implemented in collaboration
with Ministry of Rural Development. The objective
of the programme is to bring selected below
poverty line (BPL) youth above the poverty
line in three years. Watershed management
programmes are also being implemented by the
NYKS. In addition, the NYKS have also undertaken
assistance to disabled persons for providing
aids and appliances, running of 100 old age
day care centres, 30 Gandhi Millennium Youth
Peace Centres, wildlife watch centres, National
Youth Cooperatives, and United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP)-NYKS Youth Volunteers Against
Poverty Awards Programmes. The coverage under
NSS increased to more than 1.7 million students.
Approach for the Tenth Plan
2.7.6
Adolescent youth in the 10-19 years age group
numbered 230 million, accounting for 22.8
per cent of the population. It is proposed
to target this segment of the youth population
through specific intervention strategies that
will focus on youth and power, gender justice,
youth health and responsible living. 2.7.7
The major thrust will be on involving the
youth in the process of national planning
and development and making them the focal
point of development strategy by providing
proper educational and training opportunities,
access to information on employment opportunities
including entrepreneurial guidance and financial
credit, proper platforms for developing qualities
of leadership, tolerance and open mindedness,
patriotism, etc.
2.7.8
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports will
play a pro-active and catalytic role in exploring
and identifying employment opportunities for
the youth in coordination with other ministries
and departments so as to optimally utilise
the investments in various youth-related schemes.
The Ministry will also play an active advocacy
role in promoting gender justice by sensitising
the youth towards gender issues.
2.7.9
Youth activities will focus on providing quality
health services and will ensure that the youth
have access to information relating to reproduction,
health issues, managing alcoholism, drug addiction,
etc. It is necessary to address the problem
of youth with special needs.
2.7.10
Value-based education will be imparted which
will focus on respect for elders, tolerance
for others' beliefs and religions, compassion
towards the poor and needy. The youth will
be involved in the protection and preservation
of nature. Steps will be taken to increase
their awareness of India's cultural heritage
and history.
2.7.11
Adolescents need particular attention and
concentrated efforts are required to build
a relatively stable place in society for them
and help them overcome the barriers to healthy
development.
2.7.12
Efforts will be made for networking between
government and non-government organisations
(NGOs) in youth development. Action Plan for
the Tenth Plan
2.7.13
Major expansion of the NYK and NSS with emphasis
on vocational training and employment promotion
will be the lynchpin of youth programmes in
the Tenth Plan. The Ministry of Youth Affairs
and Sports will establish effective linkages
with all departments and agencies involved
in youth 74
YOUTH AND SPORTS
Development work at the
Centre and in the states. Expansion of NYKS
to cover all the districts and mobilising
and empowering the youth by strengthening
the youth club movement to cover at least
50 per cent of the six lakh villages will
also be undertaken. However, a thorough evaluation
of the activities of NYKS would be necessary
before doing this. Such evaluation can substantially
improve the efficiency of the organisation
and utility of the scheme which it operates.
2.7.14
The Youth Development Centres (YDCs) will
be expanded to achieve the ultimate objective
of one youth development centre in each of
the country's 5,000 blocks. The YDCs are to
be made centres of information for youth and
eventually information technology (IT) centres.
The value of such centres will be enhanced
by associating and collaborating with the
Department of Information Technology.
2.7.15
More youth clubs, which have been the focal
point of youth activities, will be established
so as to provide a platform for young people
to raise issues concerning them.
2.7.16
All categories of youths, including rural
youth, should get an opportunity to participate
in various schemes like the National Cadet
Corps (NCC), NSS, Scouts and Guides and NRC.
The activities of the NSS network will be
expanded to cover all degree colleges and
+2 schools while the NRC will extend its reach
to 500 districts by the end of the Tenth Plan
period.
2.7.17
With a view to making the Rajiv Gandhi National
Institute for Youth Development (RGNIYD) a
truly national centre for information, documentation,
research and training concerning youth matters,
the Institute will be provided additional
resources in terms of both manpower and equipment.
Programmes for
Adolescents
2.7.18
Adolescents have very special and distinct
needs. It is essential to invest in them,
as they are the future of the country. The
most important issues regarding the adolescents
are: health, nutrition, education, both formal
and non formal, vocation, recreation and sports,
child labour, children in difficult situations,
alcohol and drug abuse.
2.7.19
All adolescents must be made aware of issues
like safe motherhood, reproductive health
rights, sexuality and sexual responsibility,
age of marriage, and first pregnancy, family
size, health care, hygiene, immunisation,
HIV/AIDS prevention, the importance of education,
particularly of girls, drug and alcohol abuse.
They should also have some legal literacy
and be made aware of vocational opportunities
and career planning.
2.7.20
A scheme for adolescents is proposed to be
launched in the Tenth Plan. The establishment
of a National Youth Centre and State Youth
Centres with outright capital grants by the
Centre has also been proposed. These centres
will provide a forum for the youth to debate
issues concerning them and the nation at large,
give expression to their abundant creative
energies and exhibit their talents.
2.7.21
There are certain sections of youth who suffer
from physical and mental disabilities. The
Department of Youth Affairs should become
the nodal agency for coordinating and monitoring
the various facilities and services meant
for them.
2.7.22
While designing the content of programmes
for adolescents it would be highly beneficial
to obtain the views and suggestions of the
Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment,
Department of Women and Child Development
as well as those of the Ministry of Rural
Development.
