By Bhaskar Nath Biswal
India has long celebrated its youth demographic as an engine of economic potential, yet reality threatens this national promise. A NITI Aayog report, ‘Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@2047’, highlights a paradox. An estimated 8.7 crore youth aged 15 to 29 are classified as NEET – Not in Education, Employment or Training. Based on the 78th round of the National Sample Survey conducted in 2021, this figure exposes the gap between educational output and economic participation. What should have been a demographic dividend risks becoming a demographic drag unless decisive action is taken.
The report maps India’s workforce landscape across five segments – schooling, tertiary education, work, NEET youth and women. The NEET population faces a predicament. These young people are constrained by an absence of personal income. Financial obligations make it difficult to undertake paid skill training. The central challenge remains the ability to combine learning with earning, a hurdle that vocational frameworks struggle to overcome.
Youth unemployment and under-participation stem from institutional, economic and social factors. The most persistent is the mismatch between academic curricula and market demand. Although education produces millions of graduates, many lack the practical, industry-aligned competencies required by employers.
Classrooms prioritise theoretical knowledge over applied problem-solving, digital fluency and domain-specific skills valued across industries. This disconnect leaves young people credentialed yet unemployable, eroding confidence in education and feeding frustration.
The high cost of vocational training further disadvantages low-income households. Without affordable training or financial safety nets, young people may abandon skill acquisition for low-productivity informal work or remain disengaged from the job market. Training becomes difficult when survival depends on meagre earnings.
Gender dynamics intensify the challenge. Societal expectations and unpaid domestic labour restrict young women from pursuing skill development. Many are locked into caregiving roles that leave little time or freedom for skilling. The result is double exclusion – economic and social. NEET status is not merely a statistic; it reflects deeper failures in aligning education, labour markets and social norms with young people’s realities.
To fulfil the vision of a developed nation by 2047, policy must pivot towards flexible, inclusive and subsidised training. Government should scale affordable programmes linked to local market needs and industries such as digital technology, renewable energy and advanced manufacturing. These sectors will shape India’s next growth phase but need talent pipelines.
Earn-while-learn frameworks can improve participation. When young people earn a stipend or wage while gaining modular, industry-recognised certifications, the financial barrier falls and engagement rises. Short, stackable certifications can fit around family and work responsibilities.
Targeted support through scholarships, subsidised apprenticeships and income-contingent loans should focus on NEET youth and women. Public-private partnerships can expand training, with industry providing placements and government ensuring quality. Local ecosystem mapping is vital: a young person in a textile cluster needs different pathways from one in a renewable-energy corridor or digital services hub. Treating NEET youth and women as priority cohorts can convert demographic potential into a skilled workforce capable of sustaining growth.
The stakes are high. India cannot aspire to Viksit Bharat by 2047 while leaving nine crore young citizens on the margins. The NITI Aayog report has diagnosed the problem; what remains is political will and administrative creativity to redesign systems around the principle that learning and earning need not be sequential. India’s demographic advantage is real but time-bound. The window to transform idle potential into productive power is open, but it will not remain so indefinitely.
The writer is former college Principal and Founder of Supporting Shoulders