At a conference recently, a question from the audience stayed in the air long after the discussion ended: Will India’s young also take to the streets like the protesters in Tanzania, Peru or Nepal?
Across continents this year, young people have risen against political systems that felt unresponsive. In Peru, students challenged governments weakened by distrust. In Nepal, first-time voters turned frustration into new political groups. In Tanzania, crowds of young citizens gathered in public spaces to demand dignity. These movements were not driven by one ideology. They were driven by a feeling that institutions had stopped hearing them.
India’s youth have watched these moments carefully, but without the impulse to replicate them. For all its flaws, Indian democracy still provides avenues for peaceful change. The question in India is not whether youthful anger will erupt, but whether youthful intelligence will choose to engage. The greater danger is not forced silence. It is a quieter habit of stepping back and letting others decide the future.
India has more young people than any other country. Over 40 per cent of the population is below twenty-five, and nearly 460 million are between fifteen and twenty-nine. Yet the spaces where decisions are made remain mostly shaped by older generations. The word youth is used so loosely that it now includes people well into their forties, far removed from the urgency and imagination of early adulthood. At events that claim to champion youth voices, the speakers themselves are often closer to mid-life than to youth. India celebrates the idea of being young, but hesitates to trust the young with actual responsibility.
Those who do enter public life encounter a gentle but persistent scepticism. Their ideas are welcomed but rarely acted upon. They are asked to wait, as if responsibility must always follow age rather than ability. Yet democracies are renewed not by guarding experience but by cultivating judgement. Trust is not something that automatically comes with age. It is something societies must extend if they want continuity and renewal.
There is also a popular belief that this generation has inherited comfort. The reality is more complex. It has inherited polluted air, climate anxiety and an overwhelming flow of information. What appears as privilege often hides burdens that earlier generations did not have to confront.
Yet today’s young bring a distinct ethic to work and life. They do not equate success with exhaustion. They value focus, clarity and careful thought. But these strengths must move beyond private life and enter public life. Reflection without participation can become distance.
India’s institutions do not need revolution. They need the quiet resurgence that becomes possible only when younger minds are allowed to shape them. Some beginnings already exist. Platforms such as MyGov, youth consultations and public fellowships have opened small doors. These now need to develop into deeper forms of inclusion.
Every ministry could establish a Young Fellows’ Council to advise on implementation. District administrations could form advisory groups that bring students, researchers and entrepreneurs into local planning. Parliament could host an Annual Youth Session where citizens under thirty present proposals to committees. These ideas are not dramatic shifts. They are practical steps to ensure younger voices are part of governance.
Universities also have a role. Education cannot be only about exams and employment. It must prepare young people to participate in public life. A period of work in a panchayat, a municipal ward office or a government mission should be part of learning. Corporations can support Public Innovation Labs where young innovators work with officials on sustainability, technology and inclusion. None of this requires new bureaucracy. It requires trust in the abilities of the young.
Earlier generations built institutions in an age of scarcity. Today’s young must help make them responsive in an age of complexity. If they can combine technical skill with civic empathy, India’s progress will not depend on sudden upheavals. It will grow through steady, thoughtful reform.
The protests in other nations are warnings rather than templates. They show that when young citizens feel unheard, they find new ways to express dissent. India must ensure that its young find purpose within institutions, not frustration outside them. The politics of absence has lasted long enough. What the country now needs is a politics of presence: patient, grounded and committed. The future will not arrive on its own. It will be shaped by those who choose to step forward.
The writer is a public policy professional with years of experience working across key ministries of the Government of India; views are personal