Sadguru NEW DELHI: Sadhguru on Saturday said India’s demographic advantage could determine the country’s long term trajectory, warning that a lack of focus and competence among the youth could turn the opportunity into a setback. He was speaking on Day 2 of INSIGHT: The DNA of Success, a business leadership programme held at the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore.“India is buzzing like no other country. We have a youthful population…(and) if you have a very focused, competent and inspired youth, this will be the greatest miracle that the world has ever seen. But if you have an unfocused, incompetent, uninspired population, it will be the greatest disaster,” Sadhguru said.He cautioned that the benefits of a young population were limited by time. “What is demographic dividend right now, if you just wait for 25 years, what we think is a youthful nation will have one billion old people,” he said, adding that India’s future depended on how the present generation responded to current opportunities.Noting the changes underway in rural India, Sadhguru said progress must happen faster. “It’s great, but it’s not enough because this generation’s life has to change. For that to happen, everything has to buzz.”He said nourishment, education and easier access to finance for entrepreneurs were key to accelerating growth, and added that financial support still required too many barriers. “Unfortunately, finance in the country needs coercion. It’s changed a lot today, but still it’s not happening by confidence, it’s happening still by a little bit of coercion or corruption or influence.”Sadhguru criticised excessive regulation in the education system and said competence mattered more than degrees. “This is an idea, which is only approximately hundred years old, that with a certificate, doors will open. Never before in the history of this world, a door would open because you have a paper in your hand. People would check whether you are competent or not, one way or the other; they had their ways of doing it.”He said the global trend was shifting towards skill based assessment. “In the next ten years, a whole lot of people will not ask you for a qualification. They will ask you, ‘What are you competent with? What can you do?’ So the education has to shift. For this to happen, the government should just take its hands off.”Calling for flexibility and alternatives in education, he said, “Don’t set up all these boards, they are dead boards, all right? So if the rural population has no other means, we are not able to provide schools for them, they want to study in the government board, they can study. But those who can afford, should move to more agile education. More dynamic forms of education, which need not run by any rules, except children and parents are happy with what they’re doing.”Comparing the startup ecosystem in India and the United States, he said the consequences of failure were harsher in India. “If somebody falls down (in the United States), they don’t die because there is a net. As I said earlier, somebody is willing to refinance you immediately if they think your idea is good, but here, if you fall, you crack your skull.”He said the sector needed more maturity in decision making. “So it’s very important that the whole startup ecosystem should go with a little more judiciousness rather than simply enthusiasm. More judiciousness and competence need to be instilled. If somebody fails, the results are devastating for that individual. That has to change.”Calling entrepreneurship an act of nation building, Sadhguru said, “You must be looking at the society and seeing what is the problem here. How can we solve this person’s problem or this group’s problem? If that needs to happen, you should be looking at finding solutions for a variety of things.”He also urged participants to engage with policy makers. “If you have ideas, you must write a letter at least once a month. If you’re genuinely interested in the movement of this population.”The event, hosted by Sadhguru Academy, has drawn more than 200 participants from over 20 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Singapore. The programme runs from November 27 to 30.About the AuthorTOI News DeskThe TOI News Desk comprises a dedicated and tireless team of journalists who operate around the clock to deliver the most current and comprehensive news and updates to the readers of The Times of India worldwide. With an unwavering commitment to excellence in journalism, our team is at the forefront of gathering, verifying, and presenting breaking news, in-depth analysis, and insightful reports on a wide range of topics. 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NEW DELHI: Sadhguru on Saturday said India’s demographic advantage could determine the country’s long term trajectory, warning that a lack of focus and competence among the youth could turn the opportunity into a setback. He was speaking on Day 2 of INSIGHT: The DNA of Success, a business leadership programme held at the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore.“India is buzzing like no other country. We have a youthful population…(and) if you have a very focused, competent and inspired youth, this will be the greatest miracle that the world has ever seen. But if you have an unfocused, incompetent, uninspired population, it will be the greatest disaster,” Sadhguru said.He cautioned that the benefits of a young population were limited by time. “What is demographic dividend right now, if you just wait for 25 years, what we think is a youthful nation will have one billion old people,” he said, adding that India’s future depended on how the present generation responded to current opportunities.Noting the changes underway in rural India, Sadhguru said progress must happen faster. “It’s great, but it’s not enough because this generation’s life has to change. For that to happen, everything has to buzz.”He said nourishment, education and easier access to finance for entrepreneurs were key to accelerating growth, and added that financial support still required too many barriers. “Unfortunately, finance in the country needs coercion. It’s changed a lot today, but still it’s not happening by confidence, it’s happening still by a little bit of coercion or corruption or influence.”Sadhguru criticised excessive regulation in the education system and said competence mattered more than degrees. “This is an idea, which is only approximately hundred years old, that with a certificate, doors will open. Never before in the history of this world, a door would open because you have a paper in your hand. People would check whether you are competent or not, one way or the other; they had their ways of doing it.”He said the global trend was shifting towards skill based assessment. “In the next ten years, a whole lot of people will not ask you for a qualification. They will ask you, ‘What are you competent with? What can you do?’ So the education has to shift. For this to happen, the government should just take its hands off.”Calling for flexibility and alternatives in education, he said, “Don’t set up all these boards, they are dead boards, all right? So if the rural population has no other means, we are not able to provide schools for them, they want to study in the government board, they can study. But those who can afford, should move to more agile education. More dynamic forms of education, which need not run by any rules, except children and parents are happy with what they’re doing.”Comparing the startup ecosystem in India and the United States, he said the consequences of failure were harsher in India. “If somebody falls down (in the United States), they don’t die because there is a net. As I said earlier, somebody is willing to refinance you immediately if they think your idea is good, but here, if you fall, you crack your skull.”He said the sector needed more maturity in decision making. “So it’s very important that the whole startup ecosystem should go with a little more judiciousness rather than simply enthusiasm. More judiciousness and competence need to be instilled. If somebody fails, the results are devastating for that individual. That has to change.”Calling entrepreneurship an act of nation building, Sadhguru said, “You must be looking at the society and seeing what is the problem here. How can we solve this person’s problem or this group’s problem? If that needs to happen, you should be looking at finding solutions for a variety of things.”He also urged participants to engage with policy makers. “If you have ideas, you must write a letter at least once a month. If you’re genuinely interested in the movement of this population.”The event, hosted by Sadhguru Academy, has drawn more than 200 participants from over 20 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan and Singapore. The programme runs from November 27 to 30.
