India has one of the youngest populations in the world and 1/4th of Karnataka’s population consists of youth. However, young people’s engagement with democracy still faces significant limitations. The participation of youth in governance/democracy is bleak.
According to GRAAM, Mysuru, India is ranked 122 out of 181 countries in the global youth development index while Karnataka ranks 8th in both the youth development and civic participation index. Youth Participation Index in governance/civic issues and political engagement is very low in the State, i.e., 0.2 and 0.3 respectively, it said.
“Young people have much to offer to the societies – from innovation to creativity to new thinking to fostering democracy. Their participation in democracy promotes active citizenship, enhances social responsibility, and can strengthen democratic institutions,” it opined.
To bridge this gap in youth participation in governance and encourage youth to be agents of change, GRAAM, in partnership with PRIA (Participatory Research in Asia) and HSF (Hanns Seidel Foundation), has been implementing a one-year-long fellowship program in Mysuru.
Commemorating the International Youth Day (IYD), under the aegis of the Y4G Fellowship, GRAAM aims to bring out youth’s voice to community issues and sensitize more young people on participatory governance. Towards this initiative, GRAAM in association with the Department of Social Work, University of Mysuru is conducting the International Youth Day, seeking active participation of youth from Mysuru, on Monday at 9 am at Vignana Bhavan in Manasagangotri.
The event will start with a street theatre competition which consists of various street plays on the themes like ‘Bringing awareness on issues related to social equality, climate change management, and youth participation in democracy and governance’ organised by the youth of Mysuru.
The street play competition will be followed by an Instagram reels competition on the themes of ‘Civic responsibility, engaging youth in governance, ambassadors of democracy and influencing volunteerism’. In this competition, 60 to 90 second long reels that participants made would be displayed at the venue, a release said here.
At 11 a.m., the inaugural ceremony will begin with a yoga dance by a team of students from the Yogic Sciences Department, University of Mysore. Mr. Arjun Ranga, Chairman and MD, NR Foundation, Dr. Basavaraju R. Shreshta, Executive Director, GRAAM and Dr. Jyothi H., Chairperson, Department of Studies in Social Work, University of Mysore will be present during inauguration. The inaugural event will be followed by a panel discussion on the topic ‘Youth participation in governance and politics’.
The quiz competition would have different teams of youth competing to secure the first prize. At the same time, the Poster Presentation Competition would also be held. In this competition, the posters developed by the participants would be displayed and judges would evaluate them on various parameters and award them the prize. The valedictory function will be held at 4 p.m.
