Articles on 29 August 2025

India’s Demographic Dividend as a Time Bomb

Context

• Rabindranath Tagore once wrote, “Don’t limit a child to your own learning, for she was born in another time.”
• These words, spoken over a century ago, hold striking relevance for India today. At a time when technology is transforming the very fabric of work and society, the nation’s education system remains tethered to outdated structures.
• The consequence is a growing misalignment between what young Indians are taught and what the future economy demands.

The Future of Work, the Education Lag and The Demographic Dividend Paradox

• The Future of Work, the Education Lag

  • The world of work is being reshaped by emerging technologies, with Artificial Intelligence (AI) at the forefront.
  • Research suggests that nearly 70% of jobs worldwide will be impacted by AI, with up to a third of tasks in many occupations automated entirely.
  • While this disruption is displacing traditional roles, it is also creating new opportunities in AI development, data analysis, cybersecurity, and other knowledge-intensive sectors.
  • Yet, India’s curriculum cycles remain locked in three-year updates that barely scratch the surface of this transformation.
  • Students continue to be prepared for roles that are either disappearing or radically evolving.

• The Demographic Dividend Paradox

  • With over 800 million people under the age of 35, India possesses the largest youth population in the world.
  • In theory, this is a powerful growth engine; in practice, it has become a double-edged sword.
  • Despite producing millions of graduates each year, employability remains alarmingly low.
  • Nearly half of engineering graduates struggle to secure jobs, underscoring the widening chasm between degrees and real-world skills.
  • The numbers are stark: according to higher education leaders, 61% of curricula are not aligned with industry needs.
  • The Graduate Skills Index 2025 reveals that only 43% of Indian graduates are considered job-ready.
  • This paradox, of abundant graduates but scarce employable talent, threatens to turn the demographic dividend into a demographic time bomb.

The Crisis Begins in High School

• A 2022 survey found that 93% of students between grades 8 and 12 were aware of only seven career options, mostly traditional professions such as doctor, engineer, or lawyer.
• In reality, today’s economy offers over 20,000 possible career paths. Shockingly, just 7% of students reported receiving any formal career guidance.
• This lack of awareness funnels students into degrees misaligned with both their aptitudes and market demands.
• The India Skills Report 2024 found that more than 65% of high school graduates pursue degrees incompatible with their interests or abilities.
• By the time they graduate, they are neither equipped with job-ready skills nor prepared for the careers of tomorrow.

Policy Attempts and Their Shortcomings

• Recognising the crisis, the Indian government has launched numerous initiatives, from the Skill India Mission to Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana and SANKALP.
• Yet, despite heavy funding, most of these programs have fallen short of their ambitious targets.
• Fragmentation and lack of coordination among initiatives have diluted their impact.
• What India urgently requires is not more acronyms, but a cohesive, unified national strategy that aligns education with industry needs.
• Collaboration between government, educational institutions, and the private sector will be key to building a robust skill-development ecosystem.

The Decisive Decade

• India’s aspirations to be a global digital powerhouse hinge on its ability to equip youth with future-ready skills.
• The next decade will be decisive. Failure to act risks creating a generation of literate yet unemployable citizens, a crisis that could destabilize the nation’s social fabric.
• Historical precedents, such as the youth-led unrest during the Mandal Commission protests, remind us that disillusioned youth movements can spiral into volatility.
• Yet, this is not an inevitable trajectory. The AI revolution, though disruptive, presents immense opportunities.
• The World Economic Forum estimates that while automation may displace 92 million jobs in India by 2030, it will also create 170 million new ones.
• The challenge, therefore, is not one of scarcity but of transition: preparing youth to seize emerging roles while cushioning the losses from automation.

Conclusion

• India’s education crisis is not merely an academic or employment issue; it is a national imperative that touches upon economic growth, social stability, and the future of democracy itself.
• To heed Tagore’s wisdom, India must stop limiting children to outdated learning; Instead, it must prepare them for the realities of their own time, a time defined by AI, global competition, and rapidly evolving career landscapes.
• The choice is stark: convert the demographic dividend into a transformative asset, or allow it to decay into a liability.
• The clock is ticking, and the next decade will determine which path India takes.

India’s Demographic Dividend as a Time Bomb FAQs

Q1. Why is India’s education system considered outdated today?
Ans. India’s education system is outdated because it prepares students for jobs that are either disappearing or rapidly evolving, without aligning curricula with the needs of the modern economy.

Q2. What is the demographic dividend paradox in India?
Ans. The demographic dividend paradox is that while India has the world’s largest youth population, many graduates remain unemployable due to a mismatch between education and industry needs.

Q3. At what stage does India’s skills gap begin, and why?
Ans. India’s skills gap begins in high school because most students are aware of only a handful of traditional careers and receive little to no formal career guidance.

Q4. Why have government skill-development initiatives largely failed?
Ans. Government initiatives have largely failed because they are fragmented, poorly coordinated, and unable to deliver cohesive, large-scale impact.

Q5. What decisive action must India take in the coming decade?
Ans. India must align education with industry demands, integrate future-ready skills like AI into curricula, and create a unified national strategy to prepare youth for tomorrow’s careers.

Source: The Hindu

Building Health for 1.4 billion Indians

Context

• India’s health-care system faces a dual imperative: to expand access for millions of underserved citizens while ensuring affordability in the face of rising costs.
• Meeting this challenge demands not piecemeal solutions, but a systemic and interconnected approach, strengthening insurance, embedding prevention in primary care, leveraging digital tools, ensuring regulatory clarity, and attracting sustained investment.
• If executed with coherence, India has the opportunity to build a health-care model that is inclusive, financially viable, and globally aspirational.

Insurance as the Foundation of Affordability

• Risk pooling through insurance is the most effective way to make costly medical care accessible.
• Even modest premiums can unlock significant financial protection, shielding households from catastrophic health shocks.
• Yet, insurance penetration in India remains limited, only 15–18% of Indians are covered, with a premium-to-GDP ratio of 3.7% compared to the global average of 7%.
• Despite this gap, the sector presents immense opportunity, with gross written premiums already reaching $15 billion in 2024 and projected to grow at over 20% annually until 2030.
• However, affordability cannot rest solely on insurance coverage.
• The true impact will emerge when payers, providers, and patients partner to expand coverage, integrate preventive care, and reposition insurance as a tool for everyday health security rather than merely a crisis response.

Efficiency, Scale and The Role of Government Schemes

• Efficiency and Scale: India’s Distinct Strength

  • One of India’s unique advantages lies in its capacity to deliver quality care at scale.
  • Where medical imaging in Western countries may serve a handful of patients daily, Indian hospitals routinely maximise utilisation without diluting quality.
  • This efficiency reflects decades of innovation in workflow design, doctor-patient ratios, and infrastructure management.
  • The next frontier is extending this efficiency to underserved regions. Tier-2 and tier-3 cities, which remain at the margins of India’s health-care system, represent the true test of inclusive growth.
  • If India can replicate its urban efficiency in these geographies, it could close the access gap and set a global benchmark for how scale, innovation, and equity can converge.

• The Role of Government Schemes

  • Schemes like Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY) have already redefined access by covering nearly 500 million people with benefits of up to ₹5 lakh per family for advanced care.
  • The program has enabled millions of cashless treatments, with measurable outcomes such as a 90% increase in timely cancer treatments.
  • Yet the success of such schemes hinges on greater participation by private hospitals, anchored in fair reimbursements and transparent processes.
  • This would ensure both the financial viability of providers and genuine value for patients.

The Way Forward

• Prevention as the Most Effective Cost-Saver

  • Despite progress, studies reveal that even insured families often face catastrophic out-of-pocket expenses for chronic conditions like diabetes and hypertension.
  • The solution lies in two complementary strategies: redesigning insurance to include outpatient and diagnostic care, and launching a nationwide preventive health push.
  • Prevention, however, requires public participation. Every rupee spent on healthier lifestyles saves multiples in future treatment costs.
  • Schools, employers, communities, and citizens must collectively embrace a preventive mindset, controlling risks, raising awareness, and fostering long-term health security.
  • Without this shift, India risks being overwhelmed by the growing burden of non-communicable diseases.

• Digital Transformation and Technological Innovation

  • India was an early adopter of telemedicine and continues to advance digital health solutions.
  • Artificial Intelligence tools that detect early signs of illness, triage diagnostic reports, and enable remote consultations are already in use.
  • These innovations optimise medical resources and extend care to remote regions.
  • Moreover, digital health is democratising access. A cardiologist in a metropolitan city can now guide treatment for a rural patient hundreds of kilometers away.
  • Supported by the Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, universal health records and continuity of care are increasingly within reach.

Regulation and Trust: The Missing Link

• Innovation alone is insufficient without trust. Rising health-care costs, such as insurers considering premium hikes due to pollution-driven illnesses, highlight the urgent need for regulatory safeguards.
• Robust oversight by the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) is essential for fair pricing, transparent claims settlement, and grievance redressal.
• Without confidence in the system, households will remain reluctant to prioritise insurance.
• In 2023, India’s health sector attracted $5.5 billion in private equity and venture capital, but this capital must be channelled into tier-2 and tier-3 cities to build primary networks and train specialists. Only then can growth translate into inclusion.

Conclusion

• India’s health-care system is at an inflection point; Insurance must evolve to cover everyday care, providers must extend efficiency beyond urban centres, prevention must curb long-term costs, and technology must democratize access.
• Regulation and investment must ensure trust and inclusion, while public-private partnerships can scale solutions sustainably.
• The vision is clear: health care must shift from being a privilege to becoming a universal right.
• If India can align policy, innovation, and participation, it will not only secure a healthier future for its citizens but also emerge as a global model for resilient and inclusive health care.

Building Health for 1.4 billion Indians FAQs

 Q1. Why is insurance considered the foundation of affordability in India’s health-care system?
Ans. Insurance pools risks and allows even modest premiums to unlock high financial coverage, protecting households from catastrophic medical expenses.

Q2. What is India’s unique strength in delivering health care?
Ans. India has mastered delivering quality care at extraordinary scale by maximizing resource use, optimizing workflows, and maintaining efficiency without reducing quality.

Q3. How has the Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY) scheme improved access to health care?
Ans. Ayushman Bharat has provided nearly 500 million people with cashless treatment and increased timely access to advanced care, including a 90% rise in cancer treatments.

Q4. Why is prevention seen as the most powerful cost-saver?
Ans. Prevention reduces long-term treatment costs by addressing lifestyle risks and chronic diseases early, saving multiple times the amount spent on healthier habits.

Q5. What role does regulation play in strengthening India’s health-care system?
Ans. Regulation ensures fair pricing, transparent claims settlement, and trust in insurance, which are essential to expand coverage and increase public participation.

Source: The Hindu

Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 – Constitutional, Legal and Policy Debates

Context:

• The Indian Parliament recently passed the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025, after minimal debate.
• The Act bans online real-money games like rummy and poker while claiming to promote innovation and protect against socio-economic, public health, and privacy concerns.
• The law raises constitutional, legal, and policy questions about the Union Government’s competence and proportionality of restrictions on individual liberty.

Key Features of the Act:

• About the law: It ostensibly aims to promote online gaming and protect individuals with respect to social, economic and privacy-related concerns.
• Objective: To secure a safe, innovation-friendly digital environment while addressing the public health, public morality and financial sovereignty risks of online gaming.
• Provisions: To completely ban all online games involving real money, such as rummy and poker. Thus, the law retains “promotion” rhetoric but adopts a prohibitive approach.

Union vs State Powers:

• Constitutional allocation: Following subjects primarily lies in the State domain as per Schedule VII List II (State List) of the Indian constitution -
  • Sports, entertainments, amusements
  • Betting and gambling
  • Public health, trade and commerce
• Issue:
  • By regulating online gaming, the union government assumes legislative competence by citing public interest.
  • This raises federalism concerns since the subject lies in the State domain.

Government’s Rationale:

• Addiction and mental health: Due to the temptation of these "predatory gaming platforms," Indian youth are rapidly spiralling into financial instability and mental health crises (WHO).
• Cybersecurity and financial risks:
  • Unlike offline games, software coding in online games can manipulate odds against players.
  • Online games are vulnerable to fraud, money laundering, identity concealment.
• Moral and social grounds: Online money gaming are seen as predatory platforms exploiting youth.

Critical Issues and Debates:

• Liberty and proportionality:

  • Ban restricts adult autonomy in a free country.
  • Constitutional law demands that restrictions be rational, necessary, suitable, proportionate.
  • Current ban risks being seen as excessive and paternalistic.

• Rational nexus question:

  • Does banning online real-money games actually prevent mental/financial crises?
  • Risk of underground, unregulated markets that are accessible through VPNs and dark web.

• Policy alternatives:

  • Instead of outright ban, possible regulatory measures are -
    • Licensing of gaming companies.
    • Strict fiscal controls and limits on the stakes players choose to play for.
    • Age restrictions and player verification.
    • Taxation and monitoring for accountability.

• Socio-economic considerations:

  • Need for mental health support systems.
  • Employment creation as an alternative to risky online earnings.

Unanswered Questions:

• Why differentiate between online and offline real-money games?
• Is prohibition more effective than strict regulation?
• Does Union intervention violate the federal spirit of the Constitution?
• How will enforcement tackle cross-border digital platforms?

Conclusion:

• The future of online gaming regulation in India must move beyond prohibition towards a balanced framework of accountability, innovation, and player protection, ensuring that risks are addressed without undermining federalism or individual liberty.
• A nuanced regulatory approach with licensing, safeguards, and mental health interventions can transform the sector into a source of responsible entertainment, economic growth, and digital innovation.

Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act 2025 FAQs

Q1. Why does the Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Act, 2025 raise concerns about federalism in India?

Ans. The Act intrudes into subjects like sports, betting, gambling, and public health, which fall under the State List.

Q2. How does the Act differentiate between online and offline real-money games?

Ans. The Act allows offline versions, raising questions of rationality and proportionality.

Q3. What constitutional principles are at stake in the debate over banning online real-money games?

Ans. The principles of proportionality, liberty, and rational nexus under Article 19(1)(g) and Article 21 are central to evaluating the ban’s validity.

Q4. What alternative policy measures could the government adopt instead of imposing a blanket ban on online real-money games?

Ans. Licensing gaming companies, stake limits, fiscal controls, age restrictions, and mental health support mechanisms.

Q5. How does the Gaming Act, 2025 reflect the tension between state paternalism and individual liberty?

Ans. By banning adults from playing online real-money games, the Act illustrates a paternalistic approach, restricting personal choice in the name of social protection.

Source: IE