Why Lok Sabha needs more young faces

NEW DELHI: India's demographic dividend is not visible in politics. The number of youth among the voters is increasing but this is not getting represented in the Lok Sabha. It still had a disproportionately large number of old people.

In Lok Sabha, 253 of the 543 (47%) MPs are over the age of 55, according to a report by PRS Legislative Research — the largest number of MPs to be elected to the Lok Sabha who are above the age of 55 in the history of the country.
In the previous Lok Sabha, the percentage of MPs over the age of 55 was 43%.

"Interestingly, the Lok Sabha has been getting older every election since independence. Only 71 MPs (13%) have been elected to the Lok Sabha in this election who happen to be under the age of 40," says the report.

India's median age is 27.9 years. But only 2.2% of Lok Sabha MPs in India are below the age of 30. Only 1 in 4 Indian MPs (22%) are below the age of 45. Less than 1.7% of MPs worldwide are under 30.

According to the Inter Parliamentary Union (IPU), the median age of the global population is around 26.4 years and among the voting age population worldwide, 49% are between the ages of 20 and 39, But the average age of those sitting in the world's parliaments is now between 51-60 years.

India is ranked 19th among 98 countries when it comes to having MPs below age of 30.