Young India- Old Leaders

 The 1991 restructuring of Indian economy unleashed unprecedented entrepreneurial energy. Last twenty years mirror hope and change. From business to social services, the young have taken the mantle and changed the face of the country. It is natural, given the ‘demographic dividend, we enjoy.

But politics offers a strange paradox. State or centre, leaders in their seventies and eighties hold sway. Those in their thirties and forties can be counted on fingertips. And majority of them are ‘lineage politicians’, having ‘inherited’ their position. The average age of the Union Cabinet today is 64 years and 5 months while that of the Council of Ministers is 58.6 years. In the 1^st Parliament, only 20 per cent of MPs were 56 years or older. In the 15^th Parliament, this figure has increased to 43 per cent.In the 1st Lok Sabha, there was no MP over the age of 70. This number has risen to 7 per cent in the current Lok Sabha. This does not, in any way, reflect truly a country with 65% of its population below 35 years of age.

Political parties seem averse to investing in young leaders. They try to garner votes of the young by election promises, but give tickets to the established with solid vote banks. Politics, people say, is a game of numbers. Only when we see us as one, as a force, will situation change on ground. We need to move beyond caste and communal divisions and find commonality in age. The psyche about politics as the ‘last refuge of the scoundrels’ will have to make way for viewing it as an ‘agent of change’.

The infusion of young blood will act as a ‘demographic lens’ to better articulate the needs and aspirations of the young generation. We also need out of the box thinking on issues of poverty, unemployment, environment and corruption. The young do not carry the burden of yesteryears. Nor are they bogged down by stereotypes. ’Crossing the Rubicon’ comes naturally to them. Inexperienced and overzealous we might be, we are willing to commit mistakes and learn from them. We are ready to abandon the ‘ivory tower’ and mingle with the greater whole. A young set of leaders will send out a positive signal to the world and substantiate our ‘Young India’ image. Outstanding issues with other countries can also be visited with a fresh frame of mind and I am confident that they can be resolved. If Barack Obama at 51 and David Cameroon at 46 can lead their ‘not-so-young’ countries, why can’t we? Given a chance the young leaders have shown  their capability. A ‘Jyotiraditya Sindhia or ‘Sachin Pilot’at the centre or ‘ Akhilesh Yadav’ or ‘Shivraj Singh Chauhan’ in the states are second to none. Seeing young leaders at the helm will enthuse people to join in the change, to embrace politics.

Introduction of new does not in any way mean the rejection of the old. We need their experience, their guidance, their advice. But our participation needs to increase. Watching from the fringes cannot give us experience. We need a role in decision making.

 Having said that, we will have to force our way rather than wait for others to make way. Winds of change are already sweeping the lower echelons where a lot of young men and women, from all walks of life, have entered the grass root government organizations and non-governmental organizations and are doing wonderfully well. One hopes this change is infectious and affects the whole political gamut to produce a more democratic, representative and responsive system.

Sixty-five years since India made its ‘tryst with destiny’; we have come a long way. Our leaders have lead us well. Today we stand at time’s great precipice. Dynamic, young and decisive leadership is the need of the hour. To all my friends here I would like to say-the time to take the plunge has come.