00:03Uttarakhand is taking a fresh look at one of the biggest questions facing the state.
00:07How do you create enough opportunities for young people
00:11so that they can build their future without having to leave home?
00:15The state government has now announced plans for Uttarakhand's first ever Yuva Aayog
00:21or Youth Commission.
00:22And this is part of a larger youth-focused push
00:26covering education, competitive exam preparation, employment, entrepreneurship
00:32and opportunities in the Hill districts.
00:35The leader of the government's leadership in the Kigri Pradesh
00:35is a leader of the Kigri Pradesh.
00:41We are going to start a new era of the Kigri Pradesh.
00:51We will be doing online coaching online in Kigri Pradesh.
00:58Let's start with the Yuva Aayog.
01:00Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami has announced a proposed commission
01:04as one of the seven key initiatives.
01:07The idea is to create a dedicated platform
01:10where issues concerning young people can be taken up more systematically.
01:15And that matters because the challenges facing Uttarakhand's youth
01:20are not the same everywhere.
01:22A dedicated Yuva Aayog could potentially bring these different concerns to one table
01:28and give young people a more direct channel into policy making.
01:32But the decision itself is significant because it creates a separate institutional focus on youth.
01:39Now, the second big question is education.
01:44For many students, especially those from smaller towns and Hill districts,
01:48competitive examinations often mean one additional challenge.
01:52Access to good coaching.
01:54Private coaching can be expensive.
01:57And moving to another city just to prepare for an examination
02:00is not an option for every family.
02:03Now, this is where the Chief Minister Yuva Bhavishan Nirmal Yojana, 2026, comes in.
02:10Under this scheme, the government plans to provide free online coaching
02:14for examinations such as civil services, defense services, banking, railways and SSC.
02:21Now, it will also cover examinations including CAT, MAT, GATE, NET and CSIR NET.
02:29The government has allocated 7 crore rupees for free online competitive exam coaching
02:35for 10,000 students from classes 11th and 12th.
02:39Then comes another part of the government's strategy, entrepreneurship.
02:43The idea is to tell young people that employment does not necessarily have to mean
02:49waiting for a government or private sector job.
02:52Under the Yuva Swarozgar scheme, young entrepreneurs between 18 and 30
02:57can receive IIT and IAM skill training along with a 30% bank loan subsidy
03:02for setting up ventures.
03:04Now, there are also targeted incentives for young people from border villages,
03:09ex-servicemen and agniveers to start self-employment ventures.
03:14And this can have a multiplier effect.
03:17If one young person starts a successful business,
03:20the benefit does not necessarily stop with that individual.
03:24The business can create jobs, it can generate demand for local services
03:29and it can keep economic activity within the community.
03:34But there is one more piece of this puzzle, jobs themselves.
03:39This is where the proposed hill industrial parks in Chamoli, Paori and Almora become important.
03:46The objective is to expand industrial activity in the hill regions
03:49and create employment opportunities with a focus on local youth.
03:54And for Uttarakhand, that has implications beyond employment numbers.
03:59A young person who finds a job closer to home may not have to migrate to another city.
04:05A local entrepreneur can employ other young people.
04:09And when more people earn within a region,
04:12local shops, transport, services and small businesses can also benefit.
04:17So, taken together, what is Uttarakhand trying to do?
04:22It is essentially trying to create an ecosystem around its youth.
04:26Education at one end,
04:28skills and entrepreneurship in the middle,
04:30and employment opportunities at the other end.
04:33The government plans additional support for youth from border villages,
04:38ex-servicemen and agniveers who want to establish self-employment ventures.
04:42And the annual state Baal Veertha Award will recognize children who demonstrate exceptional courage
04:49during disasters or accidents.
04:52The direction is clear.
04:55Uttarakhand is trying to move the conversation on youth from migration and limited opportunities
05:00to education, entrepreneurship, employment and participation in policymaking.
05:07And if these initiatives are implemented effectively,
05:11the real success could be measured in something much more important than statistics.
05:17Young people being able to build a future in Uttarakhand,
05:20rather than feeling they have to leave Uttarakhand to build one.
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