Role of youth in decision making.

Afshan gazi
Imagine a world full of magic and fantasies weaved inside out…imagine a world where youngsters will have their say, imagine a world where youngsters are involved in decision making.
The problem with this concept of youngsters as decision makers is that so far it is a fantasy and a fairy-tale.
How else do you explain a country which is widely proclaimed as the world’s youngest nation, there’s ironically but not surprisingly a serious shortage of young leaders and decision makers? For me the answer is simple, and complicated at the same time. It is simple because young people are rarely taken seriously enough take their advice let alone act as decision makers. But at the same time it’s complicated and confusing because one of the most often repeated clichés of all the times is “the future belongs to the youth”.
There is, this vicious circle, in which the older generation keeps on saying that the future belongs to the youth but the youth never get a chance to run the world till they are old and the new old says the same thing that the old old used to say, “The future belongs to the youth”.
Many blame the youth of being impatient and idealistic. But those people fail to see the fire within that does not blow away in the face of the storms. They fail to see the light that rises from hearts of the youth of this nation.
The decision making process for a young person to me involves a stratification of some of the major areas where these decisions matter. These include but are not limited to the home, the institutes of education and the instruments of the state.
I fail to remember even one person who is involved in the decision making process at a larger national or international level. People often cite examples like Rahul Gandhi or Omer Abdullah as young people who are involved in decision making-it’s nothing, continuity of political families. These children born not with silver but with platinum spoons in their mouth are not representative youth of our nation. Now even technically youth is defined as the age group from 15-35 and both of them are overage. And the main reason they involved in a decision making process at national and state levels is simply that they belong to political families. Their personal capabilities are not the major reason for their being there where they are and that holds true for the maximum number of young people sitting in the parliament today. There are examples from Jyotirade scindia to Sachin pilot.
India- is the largest democracy but by and large it is “feudal democracy” where family lineage is more important for staying in politics and reaching the decision making stage. A democracy is yet to be born in India, where real youth will be the decision makers. India by all standards is an elite democracy~ where millions of rural and tribal youth have no say.
The only place where young people have their say is the IT industry or the BPO industry. And the reason for that, I suspect is that both are very young industries who earliest pioneers are hardly older than 45 years and they are the industries where innovation not tradition is the key to stay in the business. But both these industries are exceptions rather than a rule. It is not enough to have youth policies and national bodies representing youth. While consultations can be of some value, young people are increasingly demanding that they should also be involved in decision making process at all levels. One time consultations or opinion polls are not adequate means of engaging them as active citizens. They want recognition as partners as significant contributors to public policy. They want their own organizations and networks through which to articulate heir concerns. The active involvement of young people must be embedded in the political processes at the local, national and global levels so they become the subjects and not the objects of the policies that affect their lives. Government need to lend their support and be willing to engage in dialogue with youth-led organizations.
The youth today at its incapability to change the way the world is run has raised a generation of malcontents. I will not say how important the role of youth in decision making is. It will be like arguing why freedom of expression is important. The question is not whether or not, the question is when.