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The boon and curse of Indian Demographics

Talk to anybody on the street and no matter how horrible the things are currently they are sure to say India will grow into a super power sometime in future. And the core basis of all these dreams is the rick solid demographics.

First off, these demographics are just awesome! There are about 2.5 Crore new Indians added to population every year. There are 10 crore new voters in this general elections. The huge percentage of our population is below 25 years of age. And more than 50% of the population is below the age of 35. In short, we have a demographic boom. Or a great, awesome, variety.

Very soon we will have more people working for India, than anytime in past. There will be more working hands added to workforce than the count of people retiring, and therefore the pension liabilities etc can easily be paid out. India can take more risks and take more debt, if it needs to, because the population is supportive of such a measure.

However, I am not so sanguine about these demographics. Like everything, this can become rotten and become a curse, if it is not handled properly.


Demographics is a constant motion factor. If you have 400 million people under the age of 25 today, 20 years from now you will have 400 million people who are 45. It is as simple as this. Demographics, like many other factors, is not reversible and is constant.

However, what sets this apart, and acts like a curse, is that needs, requirements and aspirations of a 25 year olds are very different from the needs of 45 year olds. The needs of 25 year olds are mainly in education, entry level jobs and housing; but by the time they are 45 the requirements (you may call them responsibilities) grow manifold to encompass schooling, healthcare, stable jobs, housing, amenities, and avenues to save and prosper.

These magnifying requirements cannot be built up over night, and at the same time you have a fixed deadline of say, 20 years before you are able to complete all the societal requirements to plan, organise, develop and execute the above requirements.

Read that again, you have a mere 20 years to build all that which India was not able to build in decades. The curse of Manmohan Singh's government - a brutally lost decade - was in hijacking of these crucial, ultra critical years of building the nation to be able to be fit for its citizens.

Manmohan Singh's lost decade hence has become a curse that will haunt India but at the same time, it hugely magnifies the requirement of establishing a larger vision, plan and execution of long term development of our country - which currently only Modi is able to offer - or has any likelihood to offer.

Hence, is SUPER CRITICAL for India to stop turning its greatest of blessings into a curse, a sword hanging on the neck situation, to vote in a transformational leader like Modi and bet on his success. For, if he is not able to transform India then we are at least a decade and five years too late to handle our demographic bonanza. 

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