India is expected to take over China in having highest population in the world in less than two decades. As the world population reaches 7 billion mark, India needs to prepare for the challenge of providing jobs and education to its youth.

While having a young population ready to enter the workforce can prove a ‘demographic dividend' to India's booming economy, educating this population, keeping it healthy, and employing it can prove to be a steep challenge for the government.

Manpower

It is expected that Indian will hit the one and a half billion mark by 2025. By 2020, the average age of Indian population will be 29. The youngest-population-era of India is expected to last until 2050.

There is quite a demand for skilled manpower emerging at every level, right from drivers and mechanics to white collar jobs but this may not be enough. For next two decades, India will add 10 million people to the workforce every year.

Services versus Manufacturing

The farming sector that employs about two-third of the country's population is on decline and offer meager earnings. Services sector, especially Information Technology (IT), is creating new jobs but not to the scale that is needed.

China has been focusing on low-tech labor intensive manufacturing which creates many jobs. But India is currently dependent on its services sector. To create more jobs, we will have to whip up a manufacturing and industrial revolution.

Source: Ruchi Shrimali (Shiksha Team)