Topic : Structure, organization and functioning of the Executive and the Judiciary—Ministries and Departments of the Government; pressure groups and formal/informal associations and their role in the Polity.
3. Critically examine the youth under-representation in Indian parliament. What are the hurdles for youth participation? Discuss and suggest solutions. (250 words)
Reference: Deccan Herald
Why the question:
The article brings to us the numbers related to youth participation in the Indian parliament and the concerns associated.
Key Demand of the question:
One must critically examine the youth under-representation in Indian parliament and discuss the underlying causes for it. And also suggest solutions to address the same.
Directive:
Critically examine – When asked to ‘Examine’, we have to look into the topic (content words) in detail, inspect it, investigate it and establish the key facts and issues related to the topic in question. While doing so we should explain why these facts and issues are important and their implications. When ‘critically’ is suffixed or prefixed to a directive, one needs to look at the good and bad of the topic and give a fair judgment.
Structure of the answer:
Introduction:
Start by discussing key statistics that show the lower participation of youth in the Indian parliament and legislatures.
Body:
Start by discussing the need to get more youth in parliament and legislatures.
Explain that India is young. Its leaders are not. The country’s median age is 29. The average parliamentarian is 55. This is the directly elected Lok Sabha (LS) member. Indirectly elected Rajya Sabha members are still older, average age 63. About 65% of our population is below 35. Only 22% of the LS members are under 45.
Discuss what are the possible hurdles for youth participation in our country and how do we overcome it.
Conclusion:
Suggest way forward and conclude with the need to address the challenge of youth under representation.
