The Ministry of Education (MoE) of the Department of Higher Education has launched the YUVA 2.0 (Young, Upcoming and Versatile Writers) scheme on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti.
Yuva 2.0 is the prime minister’s plan to mentor young writers. It is an author mentorship program to train young and emerging writers below the age of 30 to promote reading, writing and book culture in the country and project India and Indian writing globally.
The Yuva 2.0 scheme will help develop a stream of writers who can cover the past, present and future of various aspects of democracy in India. In addition, it will also provide a window for aspiring youth to express themselves and present a broader vision of Indian democratic values at domestic and international fora. The concept of this scheme is to prepare the next generation of young writers so that they can enlighten Indian literature at an early age.Considering the fact that our country ranks third in the field of book publishing and we have a wealth of indigenous literature, India should present it at the global level.
“YUVA 2.0 is a part of India@75 Project (Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav) to bring to the fore the perspectives of the young generation of writers on the theme ‘Democracy (institutions, events, people, constitutional values past, present, future)’ in an innovative and creative manner. This scheme will thus help to develop a stream of writers who can write on a spectrum of subjects to promote Indian heritage, culture and knowledge system,” a senior Ministry official said.
The Department of Higher Education, MoE has launched the YUVA 2.0 scheme considering the significant impact of the first edition of YUVA. The first edition saw massive participation of young and budding writers in 22 different Indian languages and English. The launch of Yuva 2.0 is in line with the Prime Minister’s vision to encourage youth to understand and appreciate India’s democracy.
“India tops the chart in youth population being 66 per cent of the total, waiting to be tapped for capacity building and thereby nation building. With the purpose of mentoring a new generation of young creative writers, there is an imminent requirement to take initiatives at highest level, and in this context, YUVA 2.0 will go a long way in laying the foundation of the future leaders of the creative world,” the official added.
National Book Trust, India, as the implementing agency under the MoE will ensure the phase-wise execution of the scheme under well defined phases of mentorship. The books produced under this scheme will be published by the National Book Trust, India, and will be translated into other Indian languages ensuring exchange of culture and literature, thereby promoting ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’. Selected young writers will interact with some of the best writers in the world, participate in literary festivals and much more.
“The scheme will help to develop a stream of writers who can write on various facets of Democracy in India encompassing the past, present and future. Besides, it will also provide a window to the aspiring youth to articulate themselves and present a comprehensive outlook of Indian Democratic values at domestic as well as international platforms.
“This scheme has been conceptualized on the premise that the 21st century India needs to groom a generation of young authors to create ambassadors of Indian literature. In view of the fact that our country is ranked third in the arena of book publishing and we have a treasure trove of indigenous literature, India must project it at the global stage,” the Ministry official said.
“NEP 2020 has emphasized the empowerment of the young minds and creating a learning ecosystem that can make the young readers/learners ready for leadership roles in the future world. India tops the chart in youth population being 66 per cent of the total, waiting to be tapped for capacity building and thereby nation building. With the purpose of mentoring a new generation of young creative writers, there is an imminent requirement to take initiatives at the highest level, and in this context, YUVA 2.0 will go a long way in laying the foundation for the future leaders of the creative world,” it added.
