Youth Policy and Programme of India

by:- G.S.Oinam
Definition of Youth
This Policy will cover all the youth in the country in the age group of 13 to 35 years. It is acknowledged that since all the persons within this age group are unlikely to be one homogenous group, but rather a conglomeration of sub-groups with differing social roles and requirements, the age group may, therefore, be divided into two broad sub-groups viz. 13-19 years and 20-35 years. The youth belonging to the age group 13-19, which is a major part of the adolescent age group, will be regarded as a separate constituency

The objectives of the National Youth Policy are:
1. to instill in the youth, at large, an abiding awareness of, and adherence to, the secular principles and values enshrined in the Constitution of India, with unswerving commitment to Patriotism, National Security, National Integration, Non-violence and Social Justice;

2. to develop Qualities of Citizenship and dedication to Community Service amongst all sections of the youth;

3. to promote awareness, amongst the youth, in the fields of Indian history and heritage, arts and culture;

4. to provide the youth with proper educational and training opportunities and to facilitate access to information in respect of employment opportunities and to other services, including entrepreneurial guidance and financial credit;

5. to facilitate access, for all sections of the youth, to health information and services and to promote a social environment which strongly inhibits the use of drugs and other forms of substance abuse, wards off disease (like HIV/AIDS), ensures measures for de-addiction and mainstreaming of the affected persons and enhances the availability of sports and recreational facilities as constructive outlets for the abundant energy of the youth;

6. to sustain and reinforce the spirit of volunteerism amongst the youth in order to build up individual character and generate a sense of commitment to the goals of developmental programmes;

7 to create an international perspective in the youth and to involve them in promoting peace and understanding and the establishment of a just global economic order;

8. to develop youth leadership in various socio-economic and cultural spheres and to encourage the involvement of Non-Governmental Organizations, Co-operatives and Non-formal groups of young people; and

9. to promote a major participatory role for the youth in the protection and preservation of nature, including natural resources, to channelise their abundant energies in community service so as to improve the environment and foster a scientific, inquisitive reasoning and rational attitude in the younger generation and to encourage the youth to undertake such travel excursions as would better acquaint them with cultural harmony, amidst diversity, in India, and overseas.
The Policy recognizes the following areas as key sectors of concern for the youth: Education; Training and Employment; Health and Family welfare; Preservation of Environment, Ecology and Wild life; Recreation and Sports; Arts and Culture; Science and Technology; and Civics and good Citizenship.

The areas of focus of this Policy, in so far as health of the youth is concerned, are: General Health; Mental Health; Spiritual Health; AIDS, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Substance Abuse; and Population Education.

This Policy will accord priority to the following groups of young people:

Rural and Tribal Youth; Out-of-school Youth; Adolescents’ particularly female adolescents; Youth with disabilities; Youth under especially difficult circumstances like victims of trafficking; orphans and street children

The Policy envisions the following implementation mechanism:
All Ministries/Departments of the Union Government and the State Governments, particularly in the social sector will strive to make identifiable allocations in their budgets for youth development programmes. A broad based National Committee on Youth Policy and Programmes is contemplated to review and assess various programmes and schemes focusing on youth. It will also advise the Government on measures for implementation of the Plan of Action. A National Youth Development Fund will be created through contributions, including from Non-Governmental Organisations, which would be utilised for youth development activities. Income Tax exemption would be sought for contribution to the Fundraisers for implementation of the Plan of Action of the National Youth Policy

National Programme;

The Working Group has recommended that the restructured scheme should be more focused in terms of emerging needs and requirements as also with reference to the capabilities of implementing organization, programme content and methodology of training. Following these and in the context of zero-based budgeting during 11th Five Year Plan all the four schemes have been merged into a single umbrella scheme. The revised umbrella scheme will be operated by the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports as a 100% central sector scheme during 11th Five Year Plan

1. Youth Leadership and Personality Development, .2. Promotion of National Integration: — National Integration Camp, Inter-State Youth Exchange Programme Multi-Cultural Activities, National Youth Festival, State Youth Festival, National Youth Awards 3. Promotion of Adventure:- Promotion of adventure at basic and intermediate level in India; Promotion of adventure at advance level including expeditions in India, Grants to Recognised Institutions, Tenzing Norgey National Adventure Awards. 4. Development and Empowerment of Adolescents: – Life Skills Education, Counseling, Career Guidance, Residential Camps. 5. Technical and Resource Development:- Environment Building, Research & Studies on youth issues, Documentation & Publication, Seminars, Conferences, Exhibitions and Workshops on youth or adolescent issues, national integration and adventure.

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE SCHEME
A. All India Organisations (AIOs) i.e.,
1 Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (Head Quarter) for Nehru Yuva Kendra’s;
2 National Service Scheme (Programme Adviser Cell) for NSS Units;
3 Bharat Scouts & Guides (Head Quarter) for their own Units;
4 Universities including deemed Universities;
5 Association of Indian Universities and
6 Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Indian Mountaineering Foundation, Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering and Winter Sports and other adventure institutes recognised by the Ministry.

(B) State Level Organisations (SLOs) i.e.
i. State Governments, State Departments/Directorates for Youth Affairs/Youth Welfare and other District Level Officers in States;

ii. Panchayati Raj Institutions and Urban Local Bodies;

iii. Educational Institutions including Polytechnics and

iv. Non-government Organisations (NGOs) and Voluntary Agencies registered under the Societies Registration Act 1860 (or other appropriate state law), public trusts and non-profit making companies who have completed at least 3 years of registration on the date of application and has average annual programme expenditure of 5.00 lakhs or more during last 3 years.
Nehru Yuva Kendra:

Nehru Yuva Kendra Scheme was started in 1972 by the then Ministry of Education with the objective of providing the non – student rural youth an oppurtunity to help him grow and involve in the nation-building-activities. In 1987, all the existing kendras under the NYK scheme were re-organized into an autonomous body that was formed by a resolution of Department of Youth Affairs. As a result of this endeavour, Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan(NYKS) was formed. It has since grown to have kendras in 501 districts of India with a network of about a quarter (0.25) million youth clubs in as many villages.

The Structure:

The NYKS has four-tier structure. At the helm of NYKS is a board of Governers. The Union Ministers of Youth Affairs and Sports is the ex-officio Chairperson of the Board of Governers. The Union Minister of State functions as the Senior Vice Chairman. Aside from him/her, there are one or two more Vice-chairmen; members from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, Eminent persons and Officers from the Ministry. Director General is the executive head is responsible for managing day-to-day affairs and activities of the sangathan. The country is divided in 28 zones. The Zonal Director heads each Zone and is responsible for ensuring that the policies and programmes of the sangathan are properly implemented in the field.

The District Youth Coordinator who is assisted by a group of National Service Volunteers and Rashtriya Yuva Sathees are the volunteers selected and trained by NYKS on behalf of Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Coordination with the State government and Community Based Organizations and NGOs is initiated and realized by the NYK. There is a district level committee called District Advisory Committee for Youth Programme (DACYP) under the chairmanship of the District Magistrate/ Deputy Commissioner/ Collector. Officers of various development departments are members of this Committee. The DACYP is the main coordination agency between the NYK and the district administration.

NYKS has the privilege of a network of youth clubs at the village level and volunteers with whose assistance, and with whose participation it aims to achieve its objectives. The regular programmes, special programmes and coordination programmes with different agencies are all conducted for the rural youth for their overall development.

NY KS Regular Programmes
Youth Awareness Campaign , Meeting of Youth Leaders, Capacity Building of Youth for Social Sector programmes / activities, Skill up-gradation Training Programme (SUTP) for women in 100 border / Tribal/ Backward Districts, Incentive to Youth Clubs, Meetings of District / State Advisory Committee on Youth Programmes (DACYP/SACYP), Provision of Sports Material for Youth Clubs, Block & District Level Sports Tournaments and Sports Material Purchase, District Folk Cultural Festival, District / State Youth Awards (individual), Celebration of Important National and International Days, Celebration of National Youth Day and Week, Work Camp (Shram Daan), District Youth Convention, Documentation at District & State level, Grand in aid to Youth Clubs, Exhibition for Youth on Handicraft (Yuva Kriti) and State Cultural Festival, Review cum Planning Meeting, Rajiv Gandhi Adventure Scheme, Youth Festival for North Eastern Region, National Convention of NSVs/NYSs, Need Based Special Programmes, National youth Corps etc.

Promotion of Scouting and Guiding;

OBJECTIVE
The term “Scouts & Guides” being a general term, it shall include boys and girls covered under different nomenclature such as “the cubs and the bulbuls”; “the scouts and the guides” and “the rovers and the rangers”. Accordingly, the admissible age group of the beneficiaries will be from 6 to 35 years

Pattern of Assistance
The Central grant will be admissible for:

a. Conducting scouting and guiding camps;
b. Conducting training programmes for the Scouts and Guides and for trainers of Scouting and Guiding with special emphasis on value education, national integration and preservation of cultural heritage;
c. Conducting periodical meets of national level on the theme of Scouting and Guiding;
d. Co-ordination of Scouting and Guiding activities;
e. Development of Training Centres;
f. Monitoring and evaluation of Scouting and Guiding activities in India and sharing of experiences of scouting and guiding with other countries;
g. Travel grant for participation in important national/international seminars on scouting/guiding; and
h. Research and publications on scouting/guiding.

2 The grant will be non-recurring in nature. The organisation applying for the grant should have the recognition of Government of India as a scouting and guiding organisation with adequate experience, resource and separate legal entity. Government of India grant shall be released only to the Central body of such an organisation – not to its branches, under this scheme. State branches can also seek funds from the state Governments, independent of this scheme. However, there shall be no bar in granting central assistance under other schemes of this Department to such branch offices.

The Central body or the National Headquarters of the grantee organisation may share the funds released for conducting programmes with its branches.

3. At present the two organisations which are being given grant by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports are:

A. THE BHARAT SCOUTS AND GUIDES, NATIONAL HEAD QUARTERS, NEW DELHI.
B. ALL INDIA BOYS SCOUTS ASSOCIATION, GENERAL HEAD QUARTERS, NEW DELHI.

4. Grants will be released as per the approved action plan for the year. However, the organisation should clearly spell out the whole year’s programme by 30th November of the previous financial year, so that the total admissible grant can be sanctioned well in advance. Only 75% of the sanctioned grant will be released subject to settlement of previous year’s grant, as first installment and the rest 25% will be released after receiving utilisation certificate.

5. The entire budget provision under this scheme, shall be spent on three separate heads: (i) Programme : comprising 85% of the plan budget; (ii) Development of Training Centres : comprising maximum 10% of the plan budget which shall be further allocated by the Ministry to the programme side if no viable proposal is received in a particular financial year, and (iii) Research, monitoring and evaluation, experiences-sharing and publication : comprising 5% of the plan budget, Items (a) to (d), (g) and (h) of para 1 above may be considered under the object head of Programme.

6 The following norms for expenditure of the grant shall be followed strictly by the grantee organisation.
(a) & (b) Scouting/Guiding/Training Camps:

i Board and Lodging : Maximum 50/- per day per head for participants only for scouting/guiding camps and training camps when organised in training centres or similar other centres run by the grantee organisation. The corresponding admissibility will be 60/ per day per head, if the camps are organised in other places.

ii Traveling Expenditure : Actual, subject to the condition that the journey has been performed in the cheapest mode of conveyance. In case of train journey, this will mean ordinary sleeper class with reservation.

iii Training Material : Maximum 100 per participants for distribution among the participants of the training programmes.

iv Scouting and guiding equipment : Maximum 80/- per participant in training and scouting/guiding camps per year.

(c) Conducting periodic meets
At least two quarterly meets can be funded from the annual grant with a maximum assistance of 2.00 lakh per meet. However, the total amount per annum should not exceed 8 lakhs.

(d) Coordination of Scouting/Guiding Activities
The grantee organisation may spend 10% of the annual grant sanctioned under the programme head for coordinating scouting/guiding activities with its affiliated branches all over India. However, total expenditure on this account shall not exceed 2.00 lakh.

The Rajiv Gandhi Adventure Scheme;
RG Adventure scheme is being launched with the objective of consolidating and standardizing the adventure activities for youth being undertaken by various agencies / institutions with the financial assistance provided by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports.

Lead Institutions
The Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF) which is an apex body for the adventure activities in India will serve as a lead institute. The adventure activities are to be conducted by the following recognized Adventure Institutes and Mountaineering Schools under the overall supervision of Indian Mountaineering Foundation (IMF).

(i)ndian Mountaineering Foundation
(ii) Himalayan Mountaineering Institute, Darjeeling
(iii) NIM, Uttarkashi
(iv) WHMI, Manali
(v) Jawahar Institute of Mountaineering , J& K
(vi) National Adventure Foundation
(vii) Sea Explores’ Institute, Kolkata

Each adventure camp will be of 10 days duration (excluding journey time) and will comprise a batch of 20 to 30 volunteers. Through IMF funds will be provided by the Ministry to the National Mountaineering Schools for conducting the adventure camps. A course fee of Rs.500 per volunteer per day will be provided to cover the full cost of boarding and lodging, course material, equipment, special clothing, porter age, insurance cover, first-aid medical and communication facilities. The Adventure Institutes will also provide tents, ruck sack, sleeping bag, carry mats, wind proof jackets and technical equipments etc. For every 10 volunteers in a batch there will be one Programme officer / mentor attached as Liaison officer (lady Programme Officer in respect of girl volunteers). The entire boarding and lodging for the Liaison Officer during the camp period will be borne by IMF/ Adventure Institutes.

On a pilot basis, 50 camps covering 1000 NSS volunteers have been planned. About 41 camps have already been organized by the Mountaineering Schools covering 820 volunteers.

The adventure camps are being planned in locations available in Southern India as well as Eastern and Western parts of India to give the youth a much required exposure to the geographical features of our country. The new adventure camps include Rock Climbing in Kannur, Jungle Camps in Thekkady Sayadri in Mumbai, River Rafting in Rishikesh, Camel Safaris in Bikaner/ Jaisalmer sector. The Youth Hostel Ooty will be the centre for the southern chapter of adventure activities. The State Governments will be partners in planning adventure activities.

Selection of Volunteers:
Volunteers above 18 years can enroll for the adventure activities. The volunteers are to be selected at the unit level by the college / university. To maintain the gender balance, it has to be ensured that 50% of the volunteers selected are girls. The slots have been distributed among various states depending on the strength of volunteers enrolled under NSS. It has been decided to expand the programme to give an opportunity to 2000 NSS volunteers every year and organise 100 camps in selected locations. It is envisaged to expand the programmes to cover 5000 volunteers in near future.

Adventure Activities Proposed

High Altitude Trekking & Camping – Trekking & Camping is a form of walking, undertaken with the specific purpose of exploring and enjoying nature. It takes place in areas of relatively unspoiled wilderness. Participants will get exposure in rock climbing, rappelling, river crossing, and trekking, camping, self-cooking and gaining heights.

Adventure & Leadership Camp – Participants will get exposure in Rock Climbing, Rappelling, Trekking, Camping, group team building and environmental awareness.

Water Sports Camp – Participants will be trained in basics of water expedients, swimming, sailing, boating, kayaking, after surfing/skiing, rescue, life saving techniques etc.

White Water Rafting Camp – The participants will be trained basics of white water rafting, kayaking, safety & rescue in fast flowing mountain rivers.

Sport Climbing Camp – The volunteers will be taught Lead, Speed, and Bouldering climbing on artificial rock wall, Tyrolienne Traverse, Rock Climbing and Rappelling on natural rocks.

TENZING NORGAY NATIONAL ADVENTURE AWARD
The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, Government of India will present the Tenzing Norgay National Adventure Award for the year 2009 to recognize the achievements of persons in the fields of Adventure.
Adventure Awards categorized into Land Adventure, Air adventure, Water adventure and Life Time Achievement award. The Award carries a Statue, a Certificate and cash prize of 5 lakhs.

National Youth Awards:
Awards are conferred on youth who have demonstrably excelled in different fields of developmental activities and social service. While considering candidates for the Youth Awards, the leadership qualities displayed by them in successfully carrying out voluntary activities is an important criterion. The Code of Procedure of selection of National Youth Awardees has been revised. The award carries 20,000, a Trophy and a Certificate.
Indira Gandhi NSS Award
Indira Gandhi NSS Award at four levels will be given every year and the details are as follows:
S. No. Category NO. OF AWARDS Value of Award
1 University/+2 Council (State Level) 1 . 1,00,000/- (For NSS Programme Development
2 Programme Officer 6 10,000/- each
3 NSS Unit 6 35,000/- (For NSS Programme Development
4 NSS Volunteers 16 8,000/- Meant for a week in a reputed voluntary agency working in the field of Youth and Community Development
All the awardees shall also be presented with a Trophy and a Scroll/Certificate.

State Government Programme:

The main objective of the Youth Affairs programme is to encourage and support active participation of youth in the process of socially valuable and nation building activities and development of personality of the youth. The Senior Youth Officer of the Department is assisted by 75 Youth Officers in implementing multifarious youth welfare programmes. The following are the details of the activities

Youth Centres
For effective implementation of the youth welfare programmes, the Department has one State Youth Centre at Imphal, 9 (nine) District Youth Centres in all the district headquarters and 164 villages Youth Centres attached to selected local youth clubs in all the districts in the state. They are provided newspaper, magazines, library books, game materials etc. and the caretaker is given monthly honorarium for looking after the village youth center. These centers serve as a wide network of the Department for effective implementation of the programmes.

Vocational Training
It is one most important activity of the Department. At present, the following trainings are being conducted by the Department.
Name of Training Qualification Age Seat Fee(Rs) Duration
Computer 10+2 15 to 35 40 200/- 30 days
Radio/TV Repairing 10 & Above 15 to 35 30 Nil 6 Months
Youth Leadership 10 & Above 15 to 35 40 Nil 10 days

Computer Training
Computer Training for the youths was started from 1st June, 2002 at the State Youth Centre. The 17th Assam Rifles under its Military Civic Action Project handed over 8 (eight) Computers, Accessories, equipments etc. to the Department for the programme. In addition, 4 (four) more Computers were arranged by the Department for successfully taking up the training programme.

The main objective of the training is to create computer awareness among the youth particularly to those youth belonging to rural and distant areas in the State. As such, preference is given to those who are members of the Village Youth Centres and whose ages are between 15-35 years. The duration of the training is 30 (thirty) days and intake capacity is 40 youths per batch. A nominal fee of Rs. 200/- is charged from each trainee. The training is started on 1st and 15th of every month. Computer training with longer duration of 3 to 6 months will also be introduced by the Department during the current year.
Radio/T.V. Repairing Training

This training is conducted by the Department every year. This year the training will start from 24th July, 2002 at the State Youth Centre 30 (thirty) boys and girls representing all the districts have been selected for taking part in the training. Some of the youths who had undergone this training in the past have setup their own shops in the districts and are doing successful business in this trade.

Youth Leadership Training
In order to give an insight to youth on the functioning and management of youth organizations and youth related activities and programmes and also to develop their personality and leadership qualities, the Department organized Youth Leadership Training for the offices bearers of the youth clubs and Village Youth Centres in batches of 40 youths. The duration of the training is for 10 days during which knowledge relating to youth work and related areas are also imparted. The trainees are selected by the District Offices.

Youth Festival
Youth Festivals are organized every year at the district and state levels. The objective of the Festival is to provide an opportunity to the youth to exhibit their skills and talents in the field of culture, literary and other activities on a common platform and to promote integration and communal harmony among youth belonging to different communities. The winners in various items of competition in the State festival are selected for participation in the National Youth Festival organized by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports, Government of India every year.

Inter-State Youth Exchange Programmes
To facilitate familiarization and understanding of youth living in Border States with marked cultural differences, Inter-State Youth Exchange Programmes are conducted by the Department every year.

Work Camps of Youth
The Department organized Work Camps of Youth towards community services and national development projects and to enable young people to develop in them a sense of social responsibility. The works taken up during such camps are the one which create a tangible asset like construction and development of village play fields, repairing of inter- village roads, renovation of village ponds etc. Tree plantations are also carried out during such camps.

Adventure / Mountaineering Activities
To imbibe spirit of risk taking, quick response to dangerous situations, Adventure Sports and Mountaineering activities are organized by the Department, Trekking, Rock climbing, River Rafting, Canoeing & Kayaking, Para Sailing, Hang Gliding etc. are some of the activities. The Department has sufficient equipments including Speed Boat to conduct these activities.

Youth Hostels
There are 2(two) Youth Hostels of the Department at Imphal and Ukhrul. Cheap hostelling facilities are provided in these hostels when the youths come on educational tours, excursions, visits to historical places, adventure, hiking etc. Three more Youth Hostel has been sanctioned by the Government of India at Thoubal, Bishnupur and Churachandpur districts.

State Youth Award
This award was introduced in the year 1986 to dovetail the scheme of National Youth Award of the Government of India in order to give recognition to outstanding youth workers and voluntary youth organizations engaged in the field of youth welfare activities. This award is given every year to those youths who are recommended by the District Selection Committee which is chaired by the Deputy Commissioner concerned and finally selected by the State Selection Committee with the Secretary, Youth Affairs & Sports as the Chairman.

National Service Scheme
The National Service Scheme (NSS) is implemented through colleges and Higher Secondary Schools in the state. This is a Centrally Sponsored scheme and the expenditure in shared between the state and the Central Government in the ratio of 1:3. Regularly programme and special camping are organized by the NSS Volunteers in community service and other nation building activities.

Physical Education
The Department implements compulsory physical education programme in educational institutions of the state. For imparting compulsory physical education in educational institution, Physical Education teachers are deployed in Junior High School, High school and Higher Secondary schools. As for implementation of the programmes in primary schools, the department organize 1 (one) month Orientation Training Course for in-service Primary School Teachers every year
Bharatyam Programme

To promote health and physical fitness amongst school going children the department has also started training to school children in different Bharatiyam exercises. The department also organize demonstration programme of Bharatiyam on important occasions.

Six week certificate course in sports: To equip the Physical Education Teachers with the latest knowledge in various games and sports disciplines the department also organizes 6 weeks Certificate Course in different batches for the in-service P.E.Ts.

Refresher Courses are for PTEs also organized for in-service P.E.Ts. to equip them with the theoretical and practical knowledge of physical education syllabus of the State Institute of Education and the Board of Secondary Education, Manipur.
Deputation for Higher Courses: To enable the in-service P.E.Ts and to acquire higher professional knowledge, the P.E.Ts is also deputed for higher training courses – B.P.Ed., M.P.Ed. etc.etc.