[Answered] “India’s demographic dividend can turn into demographic disaster.” In light of this discuss why it is important for India to focus on demographic dividend?

India has a fairly young population. Young people are expected to contribute to the country’s economy. This opportunity is known as the demographic dividend. But reaping the benefits of a demographic dividend is not guaranteed or automatic. It all depends on how much a country invests in key areas like education, health and nutrition, infrastructure, good governance, etc. and whether or not there is an environment suitable for young people so that they are able to contribute to the country’s socio-economic growth.

Demographic dividend can be a demographic disaster:

1. The growth benefit of a demographic dividend is not automatic. Much depends on whether the increase in working population can be trained, and enough jobs created to employ the 10 million more people who will join the labour force every year.
2. While digital technologies may enable the creation of new products and more productive jobs, they may also substitute existing jobs. India may not be able to take advantage of these opportunities, due to a low human capital base and lack of skills.
3. Lack of jobs combined with a demographic dividend will increase the share of the population that is dependent on the working population  increasing the economic insecurity of the elderly, as there will be fewer people generating wealth.
4. Whether the demographic dividend promotes growth or transforms into a curse depends on how prepared the states that should benefit from a young population are. 

Why India should focus on demographic dividend?

1. Economic growth: Better economic growth brought about by increased economic activities due to higher working age population and lower dependent population. Demographic dividend has historically contributed up to 15 % of the overall growth in advanced economies.
2. Effective policy making: Fine-tuning of the planning and implementation of schemes and programmes by factoring in population dynamics is likely to yield greater socio-economic impact and larger benefits for people.
3. Social benefit: Increased fiscal space created by the demographic dividend to divert resources from spending on children to investing in physical and human infrastructure.
4. Rise in workforce: With more than 65% of working age population, India will rise as an economic superpower, supplying more than half of Asia’s potential workforce over the coming decades.

What needs to be done?

1. Building human capital: Investing in people through healthcare, quality education, jobs and skills helps build human capital, which is key to supporting economic growth, ending extreme poverty, and creating a more inclusive society.
2. Skilling: Skill development to increase employability of young population. India’s labour force needs to be empowered with the right skills for the modern economy. Government has established the National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) with the overall target of skilling/ up skilling 500 million people in India by 2022..
3. Education: Enhancing educational levels by properly investing in primary, secondary and higher education. India, which has almost 41% of population below the age of 20 years, can reap the demographic dividend only if with a better education system. Also, academic-industry collaboration is necessary to synchronise modern industry demands and learning levels in academics.
4. Health: Improvement in healthcare infrastructure would ensure higher number of productive days for young labour-force, thus increasing the productivity of the economy. Success of schemes like Ayushman Bharat and National Health Protection scheme (NHPS) is necessary. Also nutrition level in women and children needs special care with effective implementation of Integrated Child Development (ICDS) programme.
5. Job Creation:The nation needs to create ten million jobs per year to absorb the addition of young people into the workforce. Promoting businesses’ interests and entrepreneurship would help in job creation to provide employment to the large labour-force.
6. Urbanisation: The large young and working population in the years to come will migrate to urban areas within their own and other States, leading to rapid and large-scale increase in urban population. How these migrating people can have access to basic amenities, health and social services in urban areas need to be the focus of urban policy planning.

To reap the demographic dividend, proper investment in human capital is needed by focussing on education, skill development and healthcare facilities. Alongside that, we must invest much more in education, health and nutrition, infrastructure, and adopt an expansionary economic policy and create a favourable environment for local and foreign investment, so that we can increase production, productivity and consequent employment opportunities for the future workforce. If we succeed, we will ensure the prosperity of our people. And if we fail, our “demographic dividend” can turn into a “demographic disaster.”