On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti, the Ministry of Education launched YUVA 2.0. This scheme by the Prime Minister is to mentor young and budding authors who will promote reading, writing and book culture in the country. "In view of the significant impact of the first edition of YUVA, with large scale participation from young and budding authors in 22 different Indian languages and English, YUVA 2.0 is now being launched," the Ministry of Education said in a statement, as reported by ANI.
This new scheme that mentors young authors is falling in line with the vision of the Prime Minister to encourage the youth to understand and appreciate India’s democracy. As per the report by ANI, YUVA 2.0 is a part of the India@75 Project and this is to bring perspectives to the young generation of writers to be creative and innovative in the theme: 'Democracy (institutions, events, people, constitutional values - past, present, future)'.
The youth population in India tops at 66% of the total. The NEP 2020 emphasises the empowerment of young minds and will create a learning ecosystem that can make the young readers/learners ready for leadership roles in the future world. With the purpose of mentoring a new generation of young creative writers, there is an imminent requirement to take initiatives at the highest level. YUVA 2.0 will go a long way in laying the foundation for the future leaders of the creative world, stated a press release by the Ministry of Education.
The National Book Trust in India, which is under the Ministry of Education, will be implementing the scheme, executing it phase-wise under well-defined stages of mentorship. The books that are written under this scheme will be published by the National Book Trust and will be translated into other languages. This is to ensure that there is an exchange of culture and literature thereby promoting 'Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat', a report by ANI stated
The young authors who are selected under YUVA 2.0 will be mentors. They will also have the opportunity to interact with the world’s best authors and participate in literary festivals. 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. It will also provide an opportunity for aspiring youth to articulate themselves and present a comprehensive outlook of Indian democratic values on domestic as well as international platforms.
A total of 75 authors will be selected through an All India Contest to be conducted through the official website https://www.mygov.in/ from October 2, 2022, to November 30, 2022. The proposals will be evaluated from December 1, 2022, to January 31, 2023. The winners will be announced on February 28, 2023. The winners will be trained by eminent authors/mentors from March to August 2023. Under this mentorship, the first set of books will be published by the NBT and launched on October 2, 2023, stated the press release by the Ministry of Education.
