By Dr Gopabandhu Dash
BHUBANESWAR: A State’s pre-eminence is assessed not by its assets or possessions but by its very own people. The youth of the state symbolize its strength and decide the future course. Young blood has the enthusiasm to grow and develop the state and its people. On this front, Odisha is lucky to have a sizable portion of its population in the young generation.
Youth constitute nearly forty percent of the population of Odisha. The potential, energy and ideas of youth are vital for the development of the State. Therefore, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has rightly said that investment in youth is an investment in future as youth can bring in a sea change in the socio-economic development of the State.
The budgetary allocation for the Sports and Youth Services Department has been increased significantly this year. While in the last Budget, a provision was made for Rs 261 crore, this year the mount has been raised to Rs 304 crore. This is in addition to the various other schemes that will indirectly impact the youth of the state. Another important issue that concerns the youth is the environment and climate. The state government has this year prepared a specific Climate Budget that focuses on the sectors and to improve climate resilience and mitigation. As today’s youth is concerned with the climate and has the capability to bring in change, the Budget will help guide them on their future course of action.
Indeed, youth of Odisha have excelled in different areas like science and technology, art and culture, sports and literature, both at the national and international levels due to the creation of a conducive atmosphere for them under the leadership of Naveen Patnaik.All round development and empowerment of youth through quality education, skill development and right motivation has been one of the transformational goals of the Naveen-led Odisha Government.
While the State is making steady progress on all fronts through innovative policies and programmes, special emphasis has been laid down to put youth at the centre of the State’s growth and development.The State Youth Policy has been a path-breaking initiative in this direction addressing the needs and concerns of youth in terms of human development and active citizenship through civic, political, economic and social participation and bringing them to the core of the development process.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik believes that the role of youth entrepreneurship has not been confined only to create enterprises, but also includes creation of the capacity to produce wealth, jobs and income – the most direct indicators of economic development.Naveen’s Odisha Youth Innovation Fund (OUIF) initiative to encourage young entrepreneurship and innovation has provided desirable results in motivating youths to come out with new ideas and promote innovative products and services for socio-economic development of the State.
Under the OUIF scheme, the youth innovators in the age group of 13 to 35 are provided Rs 50,000 for new ideas and Rs 1 lakh for any demonstrative technology and incubated products or services. An enterprise set up on the basis of these new ideas is awarded Rs 3 lakh.As part of this entrepreneurship development scheme, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) Department has set up incubation centers to help youths enhance their skills.
The State Government has taken a slew of innovative measures to enhance the overall quality of training and delivery in the area of skill development. One such remarkable measure is Skilled-in-Odisha, a module that has strengthened brand Odisha, scaling up the demand for professionals from the State.The State Government has formed partnerships with corporate houses to strengthen the skill development programme and to create employment opportunities for the youths.The realization of “Are you Skilled or are you Skilled-in-Odisha?” is not so far.
The Chief Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (CMEGP) has been proved highly effective in providing employable skill training to 150 youth from each of the Gram Panchayats for improving employability.
The provisions like free laptops for students belonging to tribal, dalit and BPL categories under Biju Yuva Sashaktikaran Yojana and scholarship provision for ST and SC girls who want to study technical subjects have been instrumental in bridging the digital divide and empowering the youths at the grassroots level.
The Mission Yuva Shakti promotes SHGs (self-help group) among the youth to explore their potential for self-employment. Likewise, Biju Yuva Vahini has been instrumental in promoting leadership, volunteerism and a healthy lifestyle among youths through sports and social action interventions.
As sports and games play an important role in the development of personality, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik gives special emphasis on sports and physical education. Sports are for the youth and youth is for the future. So, investment in sports is investment in youth and investment in youth is investment in future, says Naveen.
(The Writer Dr Gopabandhu Dash is a Senior Retired Bureaucrat, former Political Secretary and present OSD to Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik . The article is re-production of the same that publish in www.thenewsroom. co.in with the Writer’s permission).
