Government to launch ‘Mera Yuva Bharat’ to empower youth and encourage leadership

With an aim to harness youth energy for nation-building and develop leadership skills, the Government of India is all set to launch an autonomous body Mera Yuva Bharat. The project has received approval from the Union Cabinet, chaired by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi this week.

The primary objective of Mera Yuva Bharat is to make it a Government platform for youth development. It will serve as an overarching enabling mechanism powered by technology for youth development and youth led development and provide equitable access to youth to actualize their aspirations. With enhanced access to resources and connection to opportunities, youth would become community change agents as well as nation builders.

Who will benefit

Mera Yuva Bharat will benefit youths in the age-group of 15-29 years, in line with the definition of ‘Youth’ in the National Youth Policy.  In case of programme components specifically meant for the adolescents, the beneficiaries will be in the age-group of 10-19 years.

Announcing the same, Union Minister for Information & Broadcasting and Youth Affairs & Sports, Anurag Thakur posted on X, “Today, our country boasts a demographic dividend, with around 40 crore youth in the age bracket of 15-29 years. To unleash their true potential and to provide them with opportunities to come forward & contribute to the process of nation-building, the Union Cabinet, under the leadership of Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi  ji has approved the establishment of an autonomous body, Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat). This body will act as a bridge between the government & the citizens and promote the values of discipline, responsibilities & service. Through these combined efforts, we are surely going to achieve the goal of #AtmaNirbhar Bharat and make Bharat a developed nation by 2047.”

Today, our country boasts a demographic dividend, with around 40 crore youth in the age bracket of 15-29years.

To unleash their true potential and to provide them with opportunities to come forward & contribute to the process of nation-building, the Union Cabinet, under the… pic.twitter.com/kOA64LSoMw

— Anurag Thakur (@ianuragthakur) October 11, 2023

Purpose

The establishment of Mera Yuva Bharat (MY Bharat) would lead to leadership development among India’s youth. This will boost leadership skills through experiential learning by shifting from isolated physical interaction to programmatic skills. The government aims to invest more in youth to make them social innovators and leaders in the communities. The purpose is to set the focus of the government on youth-led development and to make the Youth “active drivers” of development and not merely “passive recipients”.

Apart from the above, the government also intends to create better alignment between youth aspirations and community needs and create enhanced efficiency through convergence of existing programmes. The autonomous body would act as a one stop shop for young people and Ministries.

A centralized youth data base will be created for improved two-way communication to connect youth government initiatives and activities of other stakeholder that engage with youth.