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Can India reap the benefit of its demographic dividend – APSC Mains Essay

(Essay submitted in APSC Mains Essay Writing Contest 2019 – Essay Topics for week 2)

Can India reap the benefit of its demographic dividend?

By Bandeep Rabha

Demographic dividend is the phenomenon of accelerated economic growth which can occur when there is a high percentage of working age population relative to the non-working age population. A high percentage of young people engaged in work can fetch a high growth of economy of a country as well as increase its per capita income. But the working age people need to be equipping with required skills.

The developed countries had already witnessed their demographic dividend in the past and now the countries from Latin America and Asia are reaping benefits of the demographic dividend.

India is undergoing a major demographic transition with more than 60 percentage of its youth in the working age group at present and is soon going to attain peak demographic dividend. By 2020, the median age in India will be 28 compared to 37 in China. While China has already exploited its demographic dividend, India is yet to exploit.

As observed by United Nations People Fund (UNFPA) window of opportunity of demographic dividend is highest for India which is 50 years from 2005-06 to 2055-56. And the window is available at different time for different states because states population policy differed. This longer span of demographic dividend window will be a booster for economic growth of India.

Seeing at the statistics of India’s population pyramid shift, one can tell that India will have a presence of stable labour force. There will be more investment on human and physical infrastructure than on children and schools. Young women workforce would increase. The increase working people means more savings in an economy and bulging of the middle class society. These all will lead to higher consumption and the rate of GDP of India will increase.

But demographic dividend can also transform into curse if India cannot create enough jobs to absorb the working age population. De-industrialization, de-globalization, the fourth industrial revolution and technological progress could affect the job scenario to great extent. India’s human capital base is very low and in future it might not be able to reap benefits of the demographic dividend. A large number of youth in India are illiterate, unskilled and there are social and gender discrimination which hinders in human capital formation.

The question is whether India can reap the benefits of the demographic dividend. The female labour force participation in India has fallen to 26% in 2018 from 36.7% in 2005, says a Deloitte report. Given that female makes about half of India’s population, their extremely low participation make a negative effect to the growth of country’s economy. World Bank 2017 report observed that only 2.3 percentage of the total workforce has formal skill training. Given that the working age population grows by an estimated 23 million a year, only 42-43% joins the labour force.

Demographic dividend is time bounded and India’s policy maker should promote human capital formation by providing high quality education, reduce poverty, and achieve gender equality. Skill development and job creation needs to be prime priority if India wants to reap the demographic dividend benefits.

[ 500 Words ]

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Can India reap the benefit of its demographic dividend – APSC Mains Essay

(Essay submitted in APSC Mains Essay Writing Contest 2019 – Essay Topics for week 2)

Can India reap the benefit of its demographic dividend

By Mohammed Wahidul Islam

Introduction: India, the largest democracy in the world also houses the greatest demographic  dividend than any other country today. While other countries and its neighbours will be ageing, India shall continue to stride forward with its colossal demographic dividend which shall bear witness to India’s growth and prosperity. When the menace of surmounting rate of the old-age group continues to drag others, India on the other hand can boast of her vigour and virility which comes from its young work force and the its growing populace who have many springs to by-stand and bear witness to India’s magnification in various dimensions.

Issue at hand: “Will India have a gigantic populace of young hands, and surpass other nations in that respect”, however isn’t quite  the question. The question  is “What can India gain from its genetic pool of virile manpower?”  To answer the question, one must try to comprehend the country first hand, right from its corals to its snow-caps, its economic line-up, work cultures, regional practices et al.

Economic prowess being the criteria of success in the present state of affairs, a nation is known from its GDP, Currency Reserves, Trade footprint, Capital market etc. A huge manpower fuels all of them and India is blessed to have a demographic dividend amongst its populace. At this backdrop, rising unemployment, agricultural distress, lack of opportunities, poverty, health issues stares in the face. Despite her demographic dividend, such struggles keeps it from reaching its true potential, from doing what it is supposed to do and from delivering results. Then again the never ending political drama doesn’t allow representatives any respite to pay even a cursory glance towards much dramatic issues like this one. Also there are loopholes in administrative discipline in implementing different policies meant for providing respite and measures. Barring all such perils, there must be ways out to conclude them and give our ailing demographic dividend some air to breathe, to yield their ground.

Way forward: Being a magnanimous issue that it truly is, coming up with measures is a hard-hitting process. Below are some plausible points which are definitely achievable with firm hand :

1. Reconstructing agro-economic crisis—Since agriculture has taken a nosedive, its viability has lost ground amongst its patronisers. This outwards trend from agriculture to other options is lethal for an economy like ours. Although a lot has been done on its revival through a plethora of schemes and policies, still younger workforce are purging out from it. Its policy implementation be stressed upon
2. Combating Unemployment— Creating an attractive start-up ambiance with lenient angel-tax regulations, trouble-free loans, curbing red-tapism, so on and so forth shall not only engage a huge section of the demographic dividend for opting it, but shall also bring in immense capital inflows to fill our coffers. Win-win situation.
3. Inclusive development— more banking facilities in remote pockets, engaging rural youth in the run-up to economic growth, building not just ‘Smart Cities’ but ‘Smart Villages’ too, bringing industrial augmentation in villages amongst others could ensure that our marginalised manpower is covered.
4. Vocational Education and workplace counselling— Increased emphasis on theoretical knowledge has shown pragmatic aspect of education a backseat. The industrial appetite for efficient professionals can only be met from a blend of regular curriculum with vocational courses reinforced with industrial counselling.
5. Political Stability— democratic societies bloom in peaceful waters. Stability of government ensures that labour laws are up to standard, wages are uniform, etc.

Conclusion: India’s demographic dividend is a resource bestowed upon her that has the calibre to skyrocket it into the largest economy in a brief span. But friction creating forces must be dealt with. For that robust means must be employed to cater to the demand for an environment conducive to their growth. Thus it can be concluded in affirmative that certainly, India can reap the benefits of her demographic dividend without a shadow of doubt.

[ 650 Words ]

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Significance of social media in today’s life – APSC Mains Essay

(Essay submitted in APSC Mains Essay Writing Contest 2019 – Essay Topics for week 1)

Significance of social media in today’s life

By Rekha Kalita

“Connectivity is a human right”-Mark Zuckerberg

Today it has become almost impossible to visualise a world without internet. Social media is a internet based technology that give platform to share ideas, thoughts and information by building virtual networks and communities. It has a broad canvas right from Twitter, WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn etc. It has brought a tremendous revolution in terms of connectivity. The information on any topic is just a click away. Infact, social media has changed the way people interact and carry on with their everyday life.

Social media has touched every aspects of human life and society. It reduced the geographical barriers and helped to form communities of like minded people from every corner of the world. It almost replaced the other modes of communication existed before. It helped to keep up with the global trends. Social media has emerged as a marker of social status with people increasingly sharing their personal information, pictures, videos etc.

” Social media has played a key role in democratizing our discourse”- Narendra Modi

Social media is being hugely used as a tool for political campaigning and advertising, for seeking support for political movement , for transparency and accountability of government etc. For example: social media had a big role in winning elections for Narendra Modi (2014), Barack Obama (2008), mobilizing support for Arab Spring (2010) etc.

” The great thing about social media was how it gave a voice to voiceless people” JonRanson

Social media helped in creating awareness about several social issues. For example fight for LGBTQ rights. #metoo Campaign on social media against sexual harassment and assault specially in work place shows how it give platform to raise voice against injustice and inequality. Social media is being used judiciously to start and expand online business by many people. Various companies use social media to recruit new employee ,  advertised their products etc.

In raising awareness about environment and Environment protection the role of social media cannot be neglected.

Social media today has emerged as a double edged sword. On one hand it has transformed the way we think, believe and act but on the other hand the dark side of the virtual world also dangerously mushroomed since its inception.

The privacy of users on social media is at great threat. Fake news are misleading people. Social media is used successfully by various terrorist groups to expand their network, recruit people, distribute their literature etc.

Social media addiction not only consume lots of productive time but also created the problem of social and anxiety like FOMO (fear of missing out). It is too easy to get jealous of others on social media

Increasing screen time. too much typing etc. also take a toll on physical health of the users. Social media has emerged as an avenue for Cyber crimes like cyber bullying , stalking identity theft, piracy etc.

Our life has become more convenient because of social media. However,  there is always advantages and disadvantages for a thing. We have to aware of how we use them. Our smart choice can make the world a better place to live.

[ 520 Words ]

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Significance of social media in today’s life – APSC Mains Essay

(Essay submitted in APSC Mains Essay Writing Contest 2019 – Essay Topics for week 1)

Significance of social media in today’s life

By Parashar Talukdar

Introduction – Man, by nature, is a social animal. Since time immemorial, man likes to form groups and bands. With the passage of time, our lifestyle changed. But this social nature is present. In this age of 4G, man creates several platforms of social gatherings and one such platform is social median. Social media like Facebook, Twitter, Whatsapp etc. become a part of us now.

Historical background -The credit of creating first ever social media goes to Dave Woolley and Douglas Brown when they created Talkomomatic, a multi-user chatroom. In 1980s, Bulletin Board System (BBS) emerges as a popular form of Social site. SixDegree.com became the first ever social media in 1997. The popular forms social media like Facebook and Youtube was launched in 2004 and 2005 respectively.

Merits of Social media – Social media have multi folded benefits. It is a powerful tool that creates public opinion. Someone aptly said, “The power of social media is that it forces necessary changes”. In 2010, the autocratic regime of the Middle-East was challenged, known as the Arab-Spring’, by massive public opinion created through social media. It creates awareness about several issues. These forms of media advocate the right of common man. We can still remember how a strong public opinion was created during the Nirbhaya Gang rape case in 2012 which forced the Government to pass stringent legislation against such heinous crime.

Secondly, social media used for business purpose. Some sites like Linked-in are a great resource for business owners to find new talents. It is also used for free business promotion. About 78% of small businesses all over the world trust in social media to validate the authenticity of their product. Thirdly, it is social media which has transformed our planet to a global-village. With the ease of communication, a son sitting in some corner of this planet can keep in touch with his sick mother. Since the connectivity is cheap, he no longer worries for money.

Fourthly, social media is also helpful for politicians where they can spread the party’s agenda before the election.

Lastly, social media is especially helpful for students to collect news and views. It is also good means of passing our leisure.

Demerits of social media – Social media also have some demerits like it makes the users lazy, obese, depressed and self-centered. Social media can also spread rumours as in Karbi-anglong lynch mob case when two Assamese youths were killed suspected of being kidnappers. Sometimes it spreads religious hatred leading to clash of different religions. Trolling and abusing or harassing women are also seen in social media.

Way Ahead – To restrict the misuse of social media, Government should take some measures. The implementation aspects of Section 79 of IT Act, 2000 should be strengthened. Moreover, there should be a strict cyber security system which will ensure anti-hacking and non-misuses of social media.

Conclusion– Although the Government is trying to regulate the social media, it is not only desirable but also tough. We, the users, should behave responsively for making Social media self-regulatory in itself.

[ 500 Words ]

Liked it? Give your feedback in the comment section below..

Want to see your Essay published here? Participate in APSC Mains Essay Writing Contest 2019 (Weekly) – Home Page

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• APSC Questions – Mains Answer Writing [Main Page]