Yatin Bhashakar Duggal, Haryana | National Youth Parliament Festival 2024 | 06 March, 2024 | MYAS
Greetings, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an absolute honor to stand here today in this magnificent Central Hall of Parliament—a place where great minds like Dr. Ambedkar once stood and led the constitutional debates that shaped our nation. I want to express my gratitude to the Ministry of Youth Affairs and the National Youth Parliament for giving a young boy from Haryana this opportunity to share his views on such a significant platform.
We, as a civilization, have come a long way—from the Rig Veda to the longest written Constitution in the world. We have progressed from building Pushpak Vimana thousands of years ago to building Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan today. From worshiping the moon and Mars, we now venture to them with our scientific advancements. This incredible journey has brought us to a point where we must reflect on what a sustainable future means, the role of youth in shaping it, and how we can connect these two together.
Ecological Sustainability
The West is just beginning to understand the concept of living in harmony with nature. However, as a civilization, we have been practicing this for centuries—worshiping trees, eating on banana leaves, and honoring nature. Today, as young people, we need to take small but meaningful steps. For instance, instead of buying a 2500cc motorbike, why not opt for a 2500-rupee bicycle for local travel? Instead of carelessly discarding plastic into drains, let us adopt the wisdom that “nature has enough for our needs but not for our greed.”
By adopting these small changes, we can pave the way for an ecologically sustainable nation. A nation where resources are utilized responsibly and society thrives in harmony with the environment.
Social Sustainability
We need to build a sustainable and inclusive society. A society that values everyone—from doctors and soldiers to the sweepers who clean our streets. As India surpasses China in population, it becomes inevitable to strengthen our educational and health infrastructure to sustain this growth.
Furthermore, we must broaden our employment avenues. Why should young Indians only aspire to become IAS officers, doctors, or engineers? In this land of Mahatma Gandhi and vocational education, why can’t a Dalit boy from Gujarat become the world’s leading shoemaker? Why can’t a barber from Tamil Nadu become a renowned hairstylist? This is the dream of a socially sustainable society.
Economic and Technological Sustainability
As young Indians, we should not just feel proud about Sundar Pichai leading Google or Satya Nadella heading Microsoft. We need to build our own Google, our own Facebook, and foster innovation within this nation. This is the path to a technologically sustainable India.
However, economic sustainability also requires innovative policies. For this, we need to strengthen our political structure. Just as we have an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) for bureaucracy, why not have an Indian Political Service (IPS) to groom capable policymakers? This will ensure that good policies are passed on seamlessly between governments, regardless of political differences.
Mental Health and Education
Ladies and gentlemen, none of these efforts will succeed if our youth lack the educational wisdom and mental health to harness their potential. Today, we live in a nation where a cigarette, which kills, is sold openly, but a girl buying sanitary pads has to hide them in black polythene. We live in a country still trapped in an inferiority complex, where fairness creams promise to “whiten” our skin, our culture, and our standards of life.
In this era of globalization, I can wear an American shirt, Polish pants, and a German watch, but my identity must remain deeply rooted in Indian values. Education should not just prepare us for jobs but also for life, equipping us with mental resilience and emotional strength. Mental health must become an integral part of our curriculum because, in this hyper-connected world, we are paradoxically more isolated than ever. The 3G brain of ours has a power far more devastating than any nuclear weapon.
A Call to Action
Finally, why do we need to care about this planet? Because, 40 years ago, Carl Sagan pointed to a pale blue dot in the sky—a dot that is Earth, our home. That dot is where everyone we have ever loved has lived. It is where Leonardo da Vinci dreamed of the Mona Lisa, where Buddha gave his sermons, and where Lord Ram journeyed for 14 years. From dust to dawn, this Earth is all we have. Let us protect it as if it is sacred.
In conclusion, the dream of a sustainable future is incomplete without the collective efforts of 1.45 billion Indians. As Dr. Abdul Kalam once said, “Great nations are not built by handsome people, but by those who give their hands to someone in need.” Let us be those hands, shaping a socially, economically, and ecologically sustainable future for our beloved India.
Thank you.
The transcript formatted into paragraphs for better readability:
This is the same place where once Dr. Ambedkar stood and led the Constitutional debates. I would like to thank the Ministry of Youth Affairs for helping a young boy from Haryana to come to this magnificent Central Hall of Parliament and share my views. I’ll start.
Greetings, ladies and gentlemen, we have come a long way as a civilization—from the Rig Veda to the longest written Constitution of the world, from building Pushpak Vimanas 4,000 years ago to building Mangalyaan and Chandrayaan today, from worshiping the moon and Mars to going to the moon and Mars through Chandrayaan and Mangalyaan. We have indeed come a long way as a civilization. Today, when I look at this topic, I see three aspects: what a sustainable future means to me, what the role of youth is, and how we can connect both of these together.
Ecologically, ladies and gentlemen, the West has just started to learn the concept of living in harmony with nature, but as a civilization, we have been worshiping trees and eating on banana leaves for centuries. Today, as young people, it is important for us to take small, meaningful steps. For example, rather than buying a 2500cc bike, we buy a 2500-rupee bicycle for local travel. When you put that piece of plastic in the drain, and when, as a civilization, we understand the concept that nature has enough for our need but not for our greed, we will lead to an ecologically sustained nation. And when we have the resources, we will lead towards a sustainable society.
Ladies and gentlemen, today we need to build a society that is sustainable and inclusive. It should include the doctors, the soldiers, as well as the sweepers who clean this nation. Today, as we have surpassed China in terms of population, it becomes inevitable that we make educational and health infrastructure to sustain that population. I would like to ask the youth of this nation: why should we only dream about becoming IAS officers, doctors, and engineers? In this nation of Mahatma Gandhi and vocational education, why can’t I dream of a nation in which, through vocational education, a young Dalit boy from Gujarat becomes the leading shoemaker of the world? Why can’t I dream of a nation where a barber from Tamil Nadu becomes the world’s leading hair stylist?
A sustainable society must lead to a sustainable economy, a green GDP, and sustainable development. When the youth of this nation, rather than feeling proud about Sundar Pichai being the CEO of Google or Satya Nadella leading Microsoft, build our own Google, our own Facebook, in this nation—that day, we will become technologically sustainable.
But, ladies and gentlemen, all these three avenues are incomplete without a political structure that is sustainable. That is why I believe that today, along with National Youth Parliament, we also need youth in the Parliament to provide educational avenues and even innovative policies for our youth. I believe that today, as we have an Indian Administrative Service for our bureaucracy, we need to have an Indian Political Service for our politicians, so they can be trained in policymaking and governance. This will ensure that good policies are transferred from one government to another irrespective of political ideologies.
But—yes, I say this but in capital letters, ladies and gentlemen—irrespective of what society, culture, or ecology we have, if our youth does not have the educational wisdom to use this potential, we cannot lead to a sustainable future. Today, I live in a nation, unfortunately, where a cigarette, which can kill you, is sold openly, but when a girl has to buy sanitary pads, she has to hide them in black polythene. Today, I live in a nation where it’s been 77 years since the white man has left this nation, but we are still living in that inferiority complex—using fairness creams to whiten our skin, whiten our culture, whiten our education, and whiten our standards of life.
In this era of globalization, we need to understand as young people that I can wear an American shirt, Polish pants, and a German watch, but my identity, which is decided by the education I have been part of, has to stay Indian. Ladies and gentlemen, by inculcating all these avenues, we will have a society of educated individuals. But this needs to be complemented with another important aspect: mental health. Mental health should become an important part of our curriculum.
Dear politicians, dear students, dear judges, today in this era of social media, where we feel more connected than ever, we have become the most isolated. The 3G brain of yours has far more debilitating power than any nuclear weapon around the world. Mental health should become an important part of our curriculum. When we address all these avenues, we will lead to a nation that is socially sustainable, economically sustainable, politically sustainable, and has youth with the educational wisdom and mental health capacity to lead this nation toward a sustainable future.
And why do we need to care about this planet, sir? Because, 40 years ago, Carl Sagan pointed out to a pale blue dot in the sky. That pale blue dot is Earth, our home. It is where everyone you have loved or will ever love has lived. It is where Leonardo da Vinci dreamed about the Mona Lisa. It is where a man dreamed about stepping onto the moon. It is where Buddha gave his sermons, and Ram went on a 14-year journey. I believe from dust to dawn, this Earth is all we have. Let’s protect it as if it is sacred.
To conclude, this sustainable future is incomplete without the efforts of 1.45 billion Indians. As Dr. Abdul Kalam once rightly articulated: “Great nations are not made by handsome people, but by those who give their hands to those who require it.”
Thank you.
