The document discusses strategic interventions for youth in Jharkhand, India. It identifies the following key issues through discussions with youths: lack of higher education attainment, limited livelihood opportunities, poor sexual and reproductive health, and feelings of exclusion. These issues are interrelated and perpetuate intergenerational poverty. The document analyzes the issues thematically and outlines them under the categories of higher education, livelihood, health, and protection. It prioritizes the issues and presents a vision statement by youth in Palamu district to attain at least 12th grade education, job/trade training, sufficient income, health knowledge, and community participation.

1. Child Fund India
Scanning the environment for strategic interventions for youth in
Jharkhand
A concept Paper
By
Sk Mosharaf Hossain
August, 2015

2. Scanning the environment for strategic interventions for youth in Jharkhand
CONTEXT
There is indeed a buzz about youths in India and its getting louder. Policy makers, researchers, demographers,
academicians- all are in consonance with importance of historic transition of Indian demography as population in
India is expected to cross 1.3 billion by 2020 with median age of just 28 years1
. Biggest resources to propel India’s
growth in coming future are its 600 million youth. Here India stands on strong footing with its youth mass and
envisages outperforming other countries by exploring latent youth power. Significant economic contribution is also
expected from this critical segment of population, provided an enabling and conducive environment for them is in
place.
Before we make any effort in channelizing youth power to nation building we must understand youth- their status,
issues, concerns, hope and aspiration. Youths, who are potentially growth engine driver, are not much concerned and
not in realization of their inherent potential and nation’s progress thru their optimum contribution. So drafting any
strategy without touching youth voice will not bring any desired results. Therefore it presses the need of travelling
extra mile in reaching to youth, striking a chord with them, understanding their words and silence, what they dream
of, what they aspire to be, what stall their progress, what come their way and impede attainment of larger goal of
life, what is important and what is urgent for them in making rightful place for them.
In the run up to capture and record youth voice we, thru well-rounded exercise, reached out to youths, had multi-
round discussions with them, pinpointed their perspectives, consulted relevant stakeholders, reviewed secondary
sources of information and came up with a guiding document that outlines youth issues and their prioritization.
ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK
The whole analytical exercise was undertaken in a framework where few rounds of interaction with youth club
members threw light on current status of youth, range of issues they are confronted with and underlying
causes/barrier to change the status quo. The whole lot of issues then categorized under different thematic areas and
prioritized by youth themselves. Then list of synthesized issues was validated with findings from other authenticated
secondary sources and community reflection reports of previous years. People and staffs from prominent NGOs
working on the ground were also consulted to enrich this document and making it all-encompassed.
APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY
1
Youth Policy of India, 2014
•Participatory
consultation
with youth
•Individual
interaction
with select
youth
Learning
s from
Youths
•Desk review of
ASPs and PDDs
•Categorization of
issues under
thematic area.
•Consultation with
LS staffs and
ground staffs
Allignment
with
secondary
documents
• Issues
synthesis and
priorotization
•Refort drafting
Compilation
and
documentat
ion

3. Youth issues recorded have further been grouped under four thematic areas viz Higher Education, Reproductive
and Sexual Health, Livable Livelihood and Youth Protection. Under each thematic area specific issues have been
put together and thus it lets to work on particular domain systematically and logically. Following section will
provide key insight in dealing with issue based intervention strategy.
THEMATIC ISSUES IDENTIFIED
Higher Education
 88% youths drop out
before matriculation.
 Merely 1.3 % youths
completed graduation
 Only 47% adolescents
manage to pass X th
grade; failed and low
scoring children do
not show interested
in higher education.
 Average distance to
college from home is
20 Kms and it is huge
deterrent to girls in
particular in attending
schools.
 “We are destined to
be daily wage
laborers”-this age old
attitude prevent
youths from dreaming
a better tomorrow.
 Demand for higher
education has not
been created in
community owing to
unemployment or less
opportunities post
qualification.
 Parents are not
ready/incapable to
bear minimal cost of
higher education
 Acute need to
supplement family in
come prevent youths
from seeking
opportunities thru
higher education
Reproductive and
Sexual Health
Livable Livelihood Youth Protection and
participation
 Median age at
marriage is 17 years
for girls, 19 years for
boys.
 Usage of modern
contraceptives among
youth (married and
unmarried) is just
17%.
 61% married girls
experience first
pregnancy within a
year of marriage.
 79% girls are found to
be anemic and do not
take any iron
supplement.
 Increased incidence of
STI/RTI as reported
from blocks and
district hospitals
majorly due to unsafe
and unprotected sex
 Stigma, myths and
misconception in
community about
adolescents’ health.
 Little or no provision
at block and district
hospitals to screen
and treat detected
sexual health issues of
youths.
 There is indeed
dearth of promotive
and protective
services available thru
Govt. run health care
facilities
 Majority of youth
population (64%) are
engaged in menial
works.
 38% youth migrate to
cities and other states
only to land up in
exploitative
migration.
 Size of landholding is
very small; it coupled
with lack of irrigation
facilities make
agriculture non
profitable.
 There is very little
scope in the area to
disseminate modern
technical know-how
among youth farmers.
 Only 1.1% youths are
receiving any market
based training on
some trades
(Vocational training).
Therefore youths
remain under skilled.
 Merely 11% youths
have a bank account
and need to face
hassles in taking a
loan to start any
livelihood enterprise.
 Literally there is
neither provision nor
encouragement for
youth to develop
entrepreneurship.
 Youths without life-skill
and adequate
knowledge are at high
risk of RTI/STI.
 82% of total youths do
take some form of
alcohols, narcotics,
toxic petroleum,
tobacco etc.
 38% migrant youths are
prone to unsafe sex.
Girls are vulnerable to
sexual exploitation.
 42% of youth
population belongs to
SC, ST and other
primitive tribal groups
and it leads to social
and economic
exclusion.
 Entitlements of welfare
schemes are not
rightfully accessed by
youths in lowest strata
of community
 There are hardly any
civil society
organizations,
dedicatedly promoting
youth rights and
development.
 Gender, cast and
income based
discrimination of
youths.
Less educated
youth
With poor sexual and
reproductive health
Do not find adequate
earning opportunities
Feel excluded
and unprotected

4. The aforementioned issues are multidimensional and complex in nature and compounded by many other sub issues.
So one needs to perceive an issue with deep insight before any effort is made in designing any issue redressal
mechanism. For example poor sexual and reproductive health is, many ways, is correlated with little scope of youth
for higher education. These two issues when combined together lower the chance of youth in getting gainful earning
opportunities. The issue of youth protection and participation is both consequence and cause for other three issues.
So none of the identified issue should be dealt in isolation; so dimension, nature and interconnectedness are to be
critically looked into in a bid to ameliorate youth status effectively.
INTERGENERATIONAL YOUTH POVERTY
In the process of youth consultation and community reflection along with other relevant stakeholders it was revealed
that there exists a vicious and intergenerational clutch of poverty cycle—quite difficult for youth to come out from.
When the issue of youth underdevelopment or youth poverty is drilled down analytically; mainly three elements
revolve around always—Low level of formal education, Inadequate opportunities for livelihood and youth health for
better productivity.
Unhealthy youth
with low formal
education and
life skill
Low income
generating
capacityof youth
Poor youths are not
much concerned
about child's
education and health
Children drop out
and at risk of
unhealthylife
style

5. ISSUES PRIORITIZATION
Faces of youth poverty Prioritized Issues
Youths do not attain higher education
1. School dropout, 2. Need to supplement family Income, 3.
Parents’ low importance to education 4. Distant
schools/colleges 5. Employment avenue post higher
education is less.
Narrow scope for livelihood generating activities
1. Youth are not trained and linked to market based
trades/jobs. 2. Financial constraints and lack of mentorship
to develop entrepreneurship 3. Little provision for adopting
modern agriculture practices. 4. Negligible efforts from
department/agencies in creating adequate livelihood avenues
for youths
Poor sexual and reproductive health
1. Youths are not oriented on life skill, 2. Peer pressure on
youths to be trapped in risky sexual and unhealthy behavior
3. Inadequate counselling thru health facilities/worker in
promoting preventive and curative measures of reproductive
and sexual health issues.
Unprotected and excluded youth
Addiction of tobacco and narcotic substances, 2. Gender,
cast and income based exclusion in mainstream community
development, 3. Youths lack enthusiasm for civic
engagement.
VISION STATEMENT BY YOUTH AT PALAMU DISTRICT
.
“We envision having a village where every youth attains education at least up to 12th
standard, avails
opportunities of job/trade based training, earn sufficient income for family and accumulate knowledge and
information about youth health, rights and provisions and join together in community development
endeavor”