by Haryananewswire (Balbir)
CHANDIGARH, JUNE 13
The Haryana Chief Minister, Mr Bhupinder Singh Hooda, today released an Exposure
Draft which forms the State’s Youth Policy 2012 to enable physical,
psychological, intellectual,social and economic well-being of the youth,
thereby creating educated, physically fit, enterprising, law-abiding and
socially responsible youth that are an asset to their family, community and the
State.
The Chief Minister, who released the Policy at a
conference on Youth in Mass Media organized by Haryana Sports and Youth
affairs Department here today, said that as Haryana has a large population
comprising of youth, there is a need to mobilize their energies for economic
growth and holistic development of the State. Realizing this, the State
Government has decided to observe 2012 as the “Year of the Youth”. The
Policy will serve as a symbol of Government and society’s commitment to its
young citizens, identify their needs and provide a basis for equitable and
concerted distribution of Government resources to meet the needs of the youth.
Mr Hooda said that the Youth Policy also aims at ensuring
that the concerns of youth are taken into account in all areas of Government
policy and decision-making and their views, needs and ambitions are heard,
encouraged and acted upon. Through this Youth Policy, the State is
looking for greater involvement of the youth in solving social and community
issues around health and nutrition, education and employment opportunities,
child and maternal care, female infanticide, social justice, and substance
abuse with a special emphasis to empower women and girl child across all
initiatives.
Mr Hooda said that for the purpose of this policy, we
have studied the demographic characteristics of the youth of Haryana.
Therefore, we have defined youth as people in the age group of 13 to 35 years.
They are further divided in age brackets owing to a different set of needs and
aspirations for each of them. The age group of 13-18 years is of
adolescent youth. Such youth are in their foundation phase, going through
school education and are ideally suited to be exposed to vocation training and
career choices. They should be targeted for a lot of social awareness campaigns
and be involved in social service activities so that they have a better
grounding of the community and its challenges. The second such group is of
those between the age of 19-25 years. They are energetic youth who are in their
transition phase, getting their first sense of responsibility and independence
in terms of a right to vote, and free to take their own decisions. They have
either joined college or are engaged in vocational activities or gainful
employment and have lots of energy that need to be channelized in the right
direction. They are best suited for volunteerism and doing ground level
activities for different youth initiatives.
He said that the third such group is of youth between the
age of 26-35 years. They are responsible youth who are in the take-off phase
having completed their education and either gained employment or doing their
own business as well as in the process of starting their own families. This
section of the youth are economically independent, relatively more responsible
and in a better position to take leadership positions in youth organizations
and youth forums.
The effective
implementation of the Youth Policy would require concerted and collaborative
efforts of multiple State departments like Ministry of Youth Affairs and
Sports, Finance, Education, Health, Industry, Agriculture, Women and Child
Welfare and Environment. A State Coordinating Committee chaired by the Chief
Minister may be formed to ensure effective coordination and an optimum
utilization of resources available with different Ministries and Departments.
The Haryana Youth Policy
2012 will be audited for its effectiveness in 2017 and subsequently may be
reviewed and updated based on the third party audit report. There will be a
periodic monitoring and evaluation mechanism to ensure that all stakeholders
are putting in the requisite efforts towards effective implementation of the
policy. The Department of Youth Affairs and Sports may take up the
responsibility of measuring the progress on implementation of various programs
at the panchayat, district and the State level by collecting data from the various
implementing agencies and preparing an annual Youth Development Report
capturing key metrics like the Youth Development Index. The report should
identify gaps and recommend corrective actions that would be taken up for
discussion by the State Coordinating Committee, chaired by the Chief Minister,
during its annual meeting with all the State departments.
The objectives of the
Youth Policy reduce the dropout rate in schools, increase the fields and
quality of vocational training provided by the state, promote enrolment of girl
students in schools, eliminate female infanticide thereby leading to an
improved sex ratio in the age category 0-6 years,reduce unemployment rate
amongst youth ,curb the spread of AIDS in the youth , decrease the instances of
substance abuse amongst the youth, especially in the age category of less than
18 years.It also aims at making each and every youth employable and
self-sustaining by promoting careers in various secondary and tertiary
occupations,create a healthy environment for individuals to start their own
enterprises.
The specific target
groups include rural youth, out-of-school youth, differently-abled youth, girls
and young women and youth in difficult socio-economic circumstances.
He said that the Youth
Policy also has an Action Plan to empower and enable the youth and youth
groups to participate in planning and implementation of programs to address the
various needs, aspirations, challenges and concerns as mentioned in this
policy.
The primary
responsibility for coordinating all efforts around implementation of youth
education programs will be with Department of Education. They will incorporate
the youth education related programs in their planning and also allocate
necessary funds for implementation. All other Government departments, private
and voluntary organizations will support them as the need may be.Rural
educational infrastructure can be improved by bringing in investments from the
private sector. Incentives could be provided to promote low –cost schooling and
such initiatives could be made part of their corporate social responsibility
mandate. More teachers would be required at all levels to ensure a low student
to teacher ratio for an effective education system. The entry-level mechanism
needs to be monitored so that only qualified and well-trained individuals make
the cut. Non-formal
programmes could be
started in rural areas which deal with certain aspects of the rural economy
like agriculture, agro-processing and handicrafts. This could supplement the
vocational education programmes in the State.
Effective collaboration
with corporates and industries will help in redesigning course content and
provide counseling to students to help them choose their fields of careers and
employment. Ensuring high uniformity in educational standards throughout the
State will promote equality among students especially at the senior secondary
levels as it has a high impact on their careers. Increased focus on e-learning
with the use of internet and empowering students to use computers. This can be
done through an association with technology companies and making such
initiatives part of their corporate social responsibility initiatives.
The Policy draft also
aims at actively working with the Central Government to bring in the benefits of
the Right to Education and other educational policies like Sarvya Shiksha
Abhiyaan to all those who are entitled to avail it.The primary responsibility
for coordinating all efforts around implementation of youth employment and
skill development programs will be with Department of Employment. They will
incorporate the youth employment related programs in their planning and also
allocate necessary funds for implementation. All other Government departments,
private and voluntary organizations will support them as the need may be.
Training and vocational education can reduce unemployment. Another aspect is
collaboration with youth organizations for training programmes to enhance
specific skills which might be relevant for the State. These programmes could
also have a component which addresses needs of differently-abled youth.
Financial assistance should be given to NGOs who actively engage in providing
training to rural youth and school drop outs. The Department of Finance can
work with the banks and financial institutions to provide soft loans to
individuals who have completed vocational education and seek to start their own
enterprises.Private sector enterprises can be associated to launch projects
which provide those skills which the enterprise might require. The financial
assistance for such projects will be provided by the private enterprise
itself.The Department of Industry can identify those enterprises which are
willing to support such a programme. These enterprises could be provided tax
benefits by the Government.
The Policy draft suggests launching of programs which aid
individuals to become entrepreneurs by providing training and mentoring in
enterprise management and other areas of importance to an entrepreneur like
dealing with banks, financial institutions, government departments. It promotes
setting up of Self-Help Groups which involve young people in the production and
marketing of goods and services. These groups could be supported through a
mechanism of soft-credit which can be coordinated with the Department of
Finance by liaising with the Banks.
The primary
responsibility for coordinating all efforts around implementation of youth
health programs will be with Department of Health. They will incorporate the
youth health related programs in their planning and also allocate necessary
funds for implementation. All other Government departments, private and
voluntary organizations will support them as the need may be. General issues
include collaboration with NGOs and the private sector to bring into an action
a set of actionable policies promoting a healthy lifestyle, keeping in mind the
current trends of the work culture of today’s youth and the health issues
arising from it. Expand services for youth towards maintaining sound mental
health, especially those who are in school, by providing professional help to
those who are in need of counseling and stress management.It also suggests
launching lifestyle awareness programmes in schools, colleges and vocational
training centres with a special focus on adolescents, and the fact that they
are undergoing physical and mental changes both in themselves and their
environments, with an attempt to ensure that they do not fall prey to vices
like smoking, alcohols and narcotics.
It also aims at
promoting sports as a means of healthy lifestyle, recreational
activity,alternate career and skill development and manifested by actively
involving organizations such as boy and girl scouts, village panchayats, youth
clubs, educational institutions and youth volunteers in close coordination with
the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports.It also aims at
addressing nutritional and deficiency issues by ensuring that the mid-day
meals system is carried out in the most scientifically efficient manner to provide
optimum nutrients for the beneficiaries.
Certain schemes should
be extended exclusively to the girl child and those hailing from rural
backgrounds. Young mothers should be trained by health professionals about the
importance of the right kind of nutrition. A mandatory course on HIV/AIDS
should be provided to all teachers of government schools so that they may
conduct awareness programmes in the area, especially rural regions. Healthy and
safe sexual habits should be promoted by conducting camps and workshops
specifically aimed at youths in the age group 18-25 years.
The primary responsibility for
coordinating all efforts around implementation of sport related programs will
be with Department of Youth Affairs and Sports, Haryana. They will incorporate
the sports related programs in their planning and also allocate necessary funds
for implementation. All other Government departments, private and voluntary
organizations will support them as the need may be.The State has a very vibrant
sporting culture. In addition to their current sporting initiatives, the
Government could put an increased focus on recreational and adventure
activities for the youth by organizing various camps throughout the year. This
would allow for a healthy and active population, which will be a great asset
for the State.
In line with the Haryana
Sports Policy 2009, the State Government should continue to build new sports
facilities and upgrade the existing ones while also ensuring their proper
maintenance. Basic coaching should be made available at all these facilities
for the benefit of young children.As per the Haryana Sports Policy 2009, the
Government would organize Block, District and State level sports competitions
for sportspersons of rural areas under the Panchayat Yuva Krida Aur Khel
Abhiyan Scheme (PYKKA) of the Govt. of India. In all these tournaments,
Government should put special focus on participation from women and
differently-abled youth.
The State Government
should encourage young professionals in the fields of medicine, engineering,
computers, teaching, science to offer voluntary services in their area of
specialization to community and social welfare projects.The Government could
constitute an award to be given for exceptional voluntary services rendered
every year in each discipline. There could also be a tie -up with the industry
that allows for good positions to be offered to the prize winners. The
Government could incentivize the Industry to allow such people, after
getting employed, to continue offering their voluntary services for a period of
one month every year.
The Ministry of Youth
Affairs & Sports should come out with an annual publication highlighting
the exceptional work being done by some of the voluntary organizations and
making heroes of such people with appropriate media support. The State
Government should work with all the colleges and universities in the State to
create programs around engaging the students in some amount of voluntary work
every year and also seek their commitment in designing and conducting training
programs for different volunteer groups and organizations.The Government should
work with the voluntary organizations towards ensuring participation from women
and differently-abled youth.
The primary
responsibility for coordinating all efforts around implementation of gender
justice and equality programs will be with Department of Women and Child
Development. They will incorporate the various gender equality programs in
their planning and also allocate necessary funds for implementation.
There should be a
massive awareness campaign in schools and colleges, urban and rural areas,
using all the youth organizations and youth development agencies available, to
highlight the rights of young women to a life of dignity, free from fear,
sexual harassment, and domestic violence. The campaign should also target males
in the age group 13-25 years to make them realize the importance and need for
respecting all women in the society, irrespective of their background,
professional or social status.
All schools and colleges
should have a special cell to allow for girls and women to register complaints
and seek immediate support in the event of any kind of sexual harassment or act
of violence since they may not always be comfortable to discuss such issues
with their parents. It also aims at creating community awareness, especially in
rural areas, about different government-sponsored schemes to support education
of girl child and employment of women and ensure that the families get the
benefits of these schemes and stop viewing their girl child as a burden to the
family.
The draft policy
suggests that State Youth Forum may be set up to provide opportunities to young
people from all parts of the State to deliberate and discuss on youth related
issues. This forum will provide for an effective feedback mechanism from youth
to the State Government and allow for their views to be heard on important
matters related to the development of the State. The forum may comprise of the
following with an equal representation from both the genders: Representatives
of young members from the State Assembly; Young achievers from different fields
like art and culture, science, sport, media, industry; Representatives from
differently-abled youth and rural youth.The Government should encourage the formation
of Youth Clubs at each village or ward level to ensure effective reach with
regards to the various youth initiatives. Specifically, for the effective
functioning of the Rural Youth Clubs, a Rural Youth Development and Information
Center should be formed for every 10 Rural Youth Clubs to ensure dissemination
of all youth programs related information, capture specific youth skill sets
and map it to employment or entrepreneurial opportunities in the area.
A District Youth
Development Center should be formed to work under the guidance of Ministry of
Youth Affairs and Sports for coordinating all the programs at the district
level.The Center would be responsible for disseminating all the youth programs
related information to all the Youth Clubs directly or through the Rural Youth
Development and Information Center for all the Rural Clubs.
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