Mohan Bhagwat calls youth India’s ‘demographic dividend’, warns of burden if mishandled

Nagpur: Describing youth as a demographic dividend, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday said the nation will benefit immensely if they are handled properly; otherwise, there could be a burden on society in the future.

In his second interaction with Gen Z within ten days, Bhagwat also noted that youth will advance in age after 30 years, and advised them not to think only of themselves but also to be considerate towards the needs of future generations.

Also Read: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat to address Indian-American community in New York on Aug 29


The event was organised by the Lokmat media group in Nagpur, Maharashtra.

He said the country's youth must first understand that Bharat is different from countries such as the US, Australia, China and New Zealand, and should frame its own yardsticks for development and progress.

"The youth are a demographic dividend. We will benefit greatly if they are handled properly; otherwise, there will be a burden on society. The youth are going to be earning people. Employment is not only jobs, but also those who do labour work, and it needs to be treated with respect," he said.

He said Bharat has an obligation to show the world the future path through its vision and help it find balance, asserting that the country needs to develop a thought process suited to its own circumstances.

"The world, due to its imperfect vision, is stumbling. It is our obligation as part of Bharat to show the world the future path through our vision and balance it. We need to prepare for it," Bhagwat added.

Drawing a parallel with a huge tricolour hoisted after considerable efforts at the event, the Sarsanghchalak said people should think about what the national flag represents and how much effort would be required to take Bharat to a higher position.

"It is our obligation. We should not compare ourselves with others," he added.

Bhagwat said the country's youth must first understand that Bharat is different from countries such as the US, Australia, China and New Zealand, and should frame its own yardsticks for development and progress.

"We are Bharat, and it has its pride, dignity and supreme honour, the type of development it wants and the yardstick of progress; we need to think for ourselves and for the country in this way," he said.

Bhagwat said the rest of the world largely thinks in materialistic terms, while Bharat's outlook is not limited to making money.

Also Read: "Education is not commercial business": Mohan Bhagwat backs 6% budget demand, better teacher training

"In Bharat, we do not only think about making money. People say even a chicken would not eat money. This is how we are," he said.

The RSS chief also stressed the need to promote entrepreneurship, saying young people would have to face hurdles with courage and work towards succeeding.

Bhagwat said Bharat's large population and comparatively smaller geographical area meant that it could not simply adopt the approach followed by countries such as Canada, the US and China.

"It is sufficient for countries to think only about employment, which have less population, or huge geography, or countries having huge resources. But a country like Bharat, with a huge population, has less geography than Canada, the US, and China, and because of this, we need a completely separate thought process for our issues. For that, we need to study properly," the Sangh chief added.

Speaking on the occasion, Lokmat Media Group editorial board chairman and former Rajya Sabha member Vijay Darda praised Bhagwat for his efforts to bring people with balanced views on his side.

He further said Bhagwat had a clear stand on issues ranging from India-Pakistan relations to youth protests and other challenges confronting the country.

"I want to especially respect Mohan Bhagwat, the way he has brought changes. He tried to bring people with balanced minds to his side, be it issues like Hindustan-Pakistan (relations), youth protests, or any other challenges facing the country. Bhagwat presented his clear stance, and he tried to bring these people together," Darda said.

Darda said the country's youth were its strength and their aspirations, feelings and thoughts needed to be understood, particularly by older generations.

"Our youth is our strength; their aspirations, feelings, and thoughts. It is necessary to understand them. Their language and expression are different, and those who are above 60 years need to understand their language; we need to reduce the generation gap," he said.

Darda also flagged the poor condition of lakhs of schools run by local governing bodies and said the facilities available to children needed urgent attention if the country aspired to become a developed nation.

"There are lakhs of schools run by local governing bodies, and they are in very poor condition. We have to see in what conditions they are getting their education," he said.

The former MP said he had introduced a bill in Parliament seeking to make it mandatory for people's representatives to admit their children to government-run schools and avail themselves of treatment at government hospitals.

"I had even introduced a Bill in Parliament, proposing that the people's representatives should admit their children to government-run schools and get medical treatment from government-run hospitals. I had said in Parliament that I believe that if we do so, the condition of the schools and medical facilities will witness a facelift. We need to seriously ponder over it," Darda added.

Earlier in the day, Bhagwat hoisted the National Flag at the Sangh headquarters here on the 80th Independence Day.

RSS volunteers and pracharaks attended the event held in the Mahal area at 8 am amid tight security.

On August 6, Bhagwat had come out strongly in support of Gen Z, saying their grievances are genuine and he believes in their honesty, insisting protests by young people do not make them "anti-national".

He had noted protest is a legitimate form of dialogue in a democracy and should be aimed at building consensus rather than creating divisions, comments coming in the backdrop of a recent stir by a fledgling pressure group on exam paper leaks.