Lucknow: A proposal by chief minister Yogi Adityanath to formulate a youth-specific policy in Uttar Pradesh, made in the aftermath of the youth protests against the BJP-led central govt over the NEET paper leak, is being pushed towards realisation at breakneck speed. Wasting no time in its youth outreach agenda, govt took less than a week to formulate a draft of the policy and circulate it among the relevant govt departments. It will be in the public domain within the next few days.On Wednesday, exactly a week after CM announced the plan, chief secretary SP Goyal held the first meeting to review its status. Suhas LY, Secretary, Sports and Youth Welfare, told TOI that the draft policy was ready within a day of CM’s announcement. “It has been circulated to all 29 relevant departments. Many of them have responded with their suggestions and concerns. We are hopeful that the draft will be in the public domain for comments and suggestions latest by next week, depending on necessary permissions,” he said.The policy, at its nascent stage, has focused on skilling, employment, entrepreneurship, leadership development, mental health, sports fitness etc. among youth. Another major aspect covered under it is to provide youth with relevant and market-necessary skilling.Govt’s swift move to acquire a pro-youth image comes in the face of the Opposition’s charges against BJP, especially on account of the violence that broke out at Jantar Mantar on July 20. In fact, as UP moves towards its next assembly elections in early 2027, Opposition parties like Samajwadi Party, Congress and Aam Aadmi Party are making youth affairs a major talking point.BJP appears to have formulated a strategy to counter these charges. While it is working at a policy level on the one hand, party members, including CM, are also countering them at a political level. On Tuesday, for instance, at a public rally in Sant Kabir Nagar which we visited to inaugurate development works, CM gave out details on skilling and employment, quoting central govt data to show that Congress and SP did nothing to create employment when they were in power.“Rahul ji and Akhilesh ji, India’s demographic dividend of 56-60% youth, needed skilling, and this was provided by BJP. You took no interest in setting up medical colleges in your time. Now you are only doing politics. In your time, you did injustice with the youth,” he said, adding that the govt was going to come down hard on anyone who “played with the future of the youth”.
