India will be one of the youngest nations by 2020 and this changing demographic condition, while providing great opportunities, could pose some challenges too ( Economic Survey 2011- 12). India is passing through a phase of unprecedented demographic changes, wherein the proportion of the working age population (15- 59 years) is likely to rise from around 58 per cent in 2001 to over 64 per cent by 2021. The ‘demographic dividend’ would pose a challenge, as the average Indian will be only 29 years old in 2020 . In absolute numbers, there will be around 63.5 million new entrants to the working age group between 2011 and 2016. The bulk of this increase is likely to take place in the relatively younger age group of 20-35. These changes are likely to contribute to a substantially increased labour force. However, it will benefit India only if the population is “healthy, educated, and appropriately skilled.”
Though human life....
