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Transcript/Script((PLAYBOOK SLUG: INDIA POPULATION
HEADLINE: Economic Dividend or Disadvantage as India Becomes World’s Most Populous Country this year
TEASER: Experts say with only about 5% of the country’s workforce having formal skills training, India needs to improve access to quality education
PUBLISHED AT: Monday, 01/30/2023 at 06:37 EST
BYLINE: Anjana Pasricha
DATELINE: NEW DELHI
VIDEOGRAPHER: Darshan Singh
PRODUCER:
SCRIPT EDITORS: pcd, Salem Solomon
VIDEO SOURCES: VOA Original, Reuters, AFP, AP
PLATFORMS: WEB __TV X RADIO __
TRT: 2:58
VID APPROVED BY: pcd
TYPE: TVPKG
EDITOR NOTES: There is an accompanying web article. ))
((INTRO))
[[India’s population is set to surpass China’s sometime this year according to the United Nations. Experts say while this represents an opportunity to reap a demographic dividend, much will depend on how India leverages its numbers, especially its massive population of young people. Anjana Pasricha has a report from New Delhi.]]
((NARRATOR))
A baby born sometime this year will see India become the world’s most populous country. Some experts say that may already have happened after China reported this month that its population has shrunk.
((Poonan Muttreja, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India))
“It is not unexpected. We knew we are going to actually surpass China in (20)27 but because of the acceleration of decline in population in China, it’s happened faster.”
((NARRATOR))
Both countries are home to about 1.4 billion people. But overtaking China is not just a number — it’s a hugely significant demographic shift. While China’s population is both declining and aging, nearly half of India is under 25 years of age. These young people are potentially a huge emerging market that will attract global investment, and a pool of talent at a time when many countries are greying.
((S.Y. Quraishi, Former Election Commissioner, Author of The Population Myth))
“We are a big market from the consumption side, and we are also the biggest suppliers of trained manpower.”
((NARRATOR))
But the numbers are also daunting — India’s working-age population is set to hit the billion-mark before the end of the decade. That worries many young people in a country struggling with high unemployment rates.
((Anmol Jain, College Student))
“More people, less jobs, more competition, so it is not easy to get [a] job.”
((NARRATOR))
Others say the young represent dynamism and opportunity.
((Aaren Gulia, College Student))
“The younger minds have more ideas. Entrepreneurship is the solution. People like me have ideas. I don’t have the capital obviously but if younger India has the ideas, we can carve our way through.”
((NARRATOR))
To achieve that potential, experts stress the need for policy makers to improve access to quality education — only about 5% of the country’s workforce has undergone formal skills training.
((Poonan Muttreja, Executive Director, Population Foundation of India))
“There are two things to do. One is skilling the new generation, the other is to enhance the skills of those who don’t have top of the line skills to be totally productive ... because if they are not it would lead to social strife, it would lead to a lot of young, unemployed, frustrated, unhappy people.”
((NARRATOR))
Students also want to be better equipped to benefit from the country’s growing economy.
((Ishita Sud, College Student))
“Maybe provide us the right skills, because right now what we are being taught in college is not very relevant in our jobs.”
((NARRATOR))
India only has a narrow window to reap an economic dividend from its young population — while it will continue growing for about three decades, women have begun having fewer children as access to education increases and incomes grow.
That means India, like China, will begin aging sooner rather than later.
((Anjana Pasricha for VOA News, New Delhi))
NewsML Media TopicsArts, Culture, Entertainment and Media
NetworkVOA
Embargo DateJanuary 30, 2023 06:40 EST
Brand / Language ServiceVoice of America - English
