Editorial. . . . . . .
It is now widely acknowledged that the wheels of prosperity will not turn unless our youth embrace innovative ideas and turn them into viable economic activity. It is indeed good that our youngsters engage in activities that generate employment in order to create new channels of employment and reduce reliance on government jobs.
To this end, it’s vital that our children are encouraged to come up with new ideas and start their own businesses while they’re still young and energetic. Unfortunately, we have seen in our culture that our educated youth waste many years looking for low-paying positions before realizing the futility of their efforts and switching to business.
By then, their energies have been exhausted, their confidence has fallen, and their ability to run a firm has vanished. Our youngsters also seek higher education aimlessly in order to obtain a degree. This is the hopes that a government position may come their way one day! However, we have now witnessed the negative consequences of this thinking in our society. It has disturbed many lives and caused widespread chaos and illness throughout society. This mindset needs to change, and our youngsters should be prepared to become entrepreneurs at an early age of their youth.
Our system of education must likewise move in this approach. Agriculture, horticulture, food, clothes, tourism, handicrafts, and other unexplored resources are all available in our state. Due to socioeconomic factors and a variety of challenges, most opportunities have not been fully utilized. As a result, the state is struggling to grow economically in the face of persistent unemployment. We need a long-term answer to improve the economic foundation, which can only come through grassroots growth.
Fostering an entrepreneurial attitude and boosting interest in entrepreneurship are frequent accelerators for achieving development goals such as growth, employment, and equity. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, require critical resources such as money, mentoring, human capital with a growth mindset, appropriate infrastructure, and supportive government policies in order to make a positive contribution to society. Promoting micro, small, and medium-sized businesses could boost economic activity while also improving the skills and potential of young people whose work opportunities are now limited. Because of the difficult scenario in J&K’s UT, the government should take steps to improve workforce upskilling and training, as well as prepare them ahead of time.
Despite having the capacity to solve a variety of socioeconomic problems, today’s entrepreneurs and small enterprises are struggling to prosper. The issue is multifaceted. University-educated youngsters would rather work than pursue business prospects. Because there is a lack of an outward-looking entrepreneurial class, the youth has few role models to inspire them to reject the dogma of job security and consider entrepreneurship as a serious career alternative. The lack of experience and technological innovation, both of which are critical for the development of any product or service that an enterprise may profit from, worsens the problem.
Existing enterprises are further impacted by challenges such as a lack of suitable infrastructure in terms of power, transportation, and communication channels, resulting in a direct blow to their revenue. The idea is that adding years to one’s professional life in a boring and linear manner is not the way to proceed. Here, thanks to the proposed improvements in the new education policy, there is hope that things will change for the better in the coming years.
Our youngsters may now be tracking market activity and attempting to start their own business while continuing their studies. If the new education policy is implemented correctly, and the wider society thinking to welcome the changes, there is a chance that our youth will concentrate on business and seek opportunities abroad. This is a connected world, and marketplaces are effectively merging into one continuous area. If our youth are to make an impact in this space, planning should begin now. And school is the ideal location for making these preparations. This is something that the concerned departments should thoroughly consider. Hopefully, besides this, the J&K government will also build a strong ecosystem for nurturing innovation and Startups and the synergies between industrial and academic establishments which will encourage and empower young innovators and boost private investment in the Startups.