©Jaya Prakash Kallikkal 2020
A fear seems to
spreading all around in the wake of massive spread of Novel Corona Virus 19. Just a while ago, I received a message on my
mobile phone stating that classes in colleges in Delhi have been suspended till
further orders in view of the CORONA Virus scare. This alert not just confused me but also
brought out an immediate question in my mind as to whether we are adequately prepared
in terms of pandemic mitigation and relief if the virus wrecks havoc in the
city in the coming days!
India has not
been able to insulate itself from the spread of the virus which originated in
Wuhan, China and the virus has now spread to multitudes of cities in this
country. Despite strict measures in
terms of screening of airlines passengers arriving from Virus infected countries,
N-Corona virus has seeped into life of Indians and poses a huge threat to the
Indian Health system.
Pressure on
health sector especially PHCs, Local hospitals apart from large speciality hospitals
shall be immense. Facing the challenge of shortage of medical facilities including
medicines and accessories in the event of a spiralling spread of the virus
shall necessitate advance planning on war footing. WHO has already declared N-Corona as a global
Pandemic, if such a situation persists in India then we need to tackle the
problem through intervention of National Disaster Management Agency. But who
would be the volunteers if an action plan is rolled out?
It also surprised
me to come across a news item that stated that a number of schools and colleges
have been closed down across the country in a bid to contain spread of the
virus among children and youth in the country.
The issue is significant from the point of view of facing the scourge in
the wake of a large impact predicted across the world. While on one side financial markets are
bearing the brunt with tanking stocks and disruption in production lines, on
the other the health sector is facing a challenge of having to come out of this
scare.
Today India has
the largest share of Youth force in the world. The National Youth Policy which was launched
in the year 2014 has proposed a holistic vision for youth in India i.e. “To empower youth of the country to
achieve their full potential, and through them enable India to find its
rightful place in the community of nations”
As per NYP any person
aged between 15 and 29 can be termed as Youth and as per current statistics
27.5% of India’s population falls in this category.
There has
been a talk about imparting compulsory military training to youth in our
country on the same lines as some other countries of the world. This has been stressed to make youth of this
nation face the real issues and also to imbibe in them a sense of National
pride, discipline and harmony. While a
section of youth today is busy in studies or handling home and professional responsibilities
with sincerity and girth, there is another section that is absorbed in mobile phones
or wasting away youth under the influence of alcohol and drugs. While global recession has brought about a serious
challenge of unemployment, India had always been deprived of gainful employment
on account of large population and lack of focussed opportunities for youth.
Perhaps in
the wake of the global pandemic, it is time we wake up to a new reality and
open up window of opportunities and challenge seeking attention of youth in our
country. Instead of giving holidays for
schools/colleges, we should roll out a precise programme to educate and train
youth in Disaster Management and risk mitigation in schools and colleges. All educational institutions who have
enrolment of students in the age group of 18-23 should compulsorily have teams
from NDMA to train them for a fortnight on n-Corona. The trained youth should be able to form
groups and further train or assist professional health teams in the event of
need. The best students could be further
volunteered into joining specialized programmes in future and should also be
provided points to enable them to add up grades in next level defence entrance exams.
It is time
India wakes up to new threats and challenges.
Youth force of our nation surely needs direction and guidance in
this. Declaring holidays in the wake of
emergencies or hiding our heads under sands in the wake of internal or external
emergencies would not help up alleviate problems at micro or macro level. It is time our energies are synchronized to
enable us to be brought to a position where we use our manpower especially our
Youth power justifiably and to the best global standards. It would not be out of place to mention that
Youth of this nation need to be imparted soft skills in multiple streams and given
the handle (of not just social media platforms) but real departments and
machinery for fully gearing up for challenges of future.
Images courtesy: Internet
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