PANAJI: Goa has the second best youth development index among states in the country, after scoring high on health, employment, education and above average in civic participation and social inclusion, but faired poorly on presence of youth in politics. These were the findings of the India Youth Development Index (YDI) and Report 2017, prepared by Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development (RGNIYD), Tamil Nadu, which is under the ministry of youth affairs & sports. Union Minister of State for Youth Affairs and Sports Col Rajyavardhan Rathore released the report in Delhi on November 13. Goa has the second highest India YDI (0.701) among major and minor states, only behind Puducherry (0.724), and well ahead of the national YDI (0.569). Based on its YDI score, Goa has been classified as a 'very high' category, along with Himachal Pradesh and Puducherry, with other states ranked as high, medium or low based on their YDI scores.
GENERAL YOUTH DEVELOPMENT
But on the Youth Gender Development Index (YGDI), reflecting gender disparity among youth based on education, health and work, Goa showed poor performance and was a low eighth among 10 minor states.
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YOUTH AND EDUCATION
The Youth Education Index (YEI) analysed indicators like education expenditure, youth literacy rate and education level, providing an estimate on performance of youth education in the country. Goa (0.661) was placed fourth among minor states, well ahead of the national YEI score (0.513).
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YOUTH AND HEALTH
On the Youth Health Index (YHI), Goa topped all states with an impressive YHI score of 0.809, a clear leader among all states and well above the national YHI score (0.632).
The YHI considered teenage pregnancy rate, youth mortality rate, youth morbidity rate, physical fitness of youth, alcohol abuse rate by youth and tobacco abuse rate by youth.
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YOUTH AND WORK
The Youth Work Index (YWI), a composite index of percentage of youth not in school/work, share of youth unemployment to total unemployment, labour force participation rate and employment level, reflected upon quantity and quality of employment among youth.
In comparison with a national YWI score of 0.572, Goa was third among minor states (0.635) and fifth among all states.
But when it came to Youth Gender Work Index (YGWI), reflecting relative female participation in the labour market, Goa performed below average with a YGWI of 0.719, below the national YGWI (0.747).
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YOUTH AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION
The RGNIYD report described Youth Political Participation Index (YPPI) as a "share of youth participating in legislature and share of youth electors. Youth participation in the political process provides young people a stake in their society and polity to bring overall youth development."
While the national YPPI score was 0.436, Goa was among the least performers in YPPI, placed last (0.253) among 10 minor states and almost at the bottom among all states.
The RGNIYD report found it interesting that states like Goa and Kerala had poor presence of youth in politics, despite performing better in development indicators like health and education.
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YOUTH AND CIVIC PARTICIPATION
Describing civic engagement as complementary to political participation, the report observed that civic participation is key to human development as it ensures active citizenry and empowerment of communities.
Youth Civic Participation Index (YCPI), which indicates youth participating in Nehru Yuva Kendra Sangathan (NYKS) and college students participating in National Service Scheme (NSS) and National Cadet Corps (NCC). Goa was placed fourth (0.7442) among minor and major states in the YCPI.
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YOUTH AND SOCIAL INCLUSION
The Youth Social Inclusion Index (YSII), which tracks social inequality and youth with disability, captured the discrimination between social groups, more specifically between SC/ST and non SC/ST, with higher the number indicating more equality.
The national YSII score was 0.785 and Goa's YSII (0.884) was placed sixth among 10 minor states and eighth among all states.
