In rarest of the rare endeavours, the Ministry of Education, Department of Higher Education, has launched YUVA 2.0 – Prime Minister’s Scheme for Mentoring Young Authors, an Author Mentorship programme to train young and budding authors (below 30 years of age) in order to promote reading, writing and book culture in the country, and project India and Indian writings globally. 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 launch of YUVA 2.0 (Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors) is in tune with the Prime Minister’s vision to encourage the youth to understand and appreciate India’s democracy. 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. NEP 2020 has emphasized on 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% 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 National Book Trust, India, under the Ministry of Education as the Implementing Agency will ensure phase-wise execution of the Scheme under well-defined stages of mentorship. The books prepared under this scheme will be published by National Book Trust, India, and will also be translated into other Indian languages ensuring the exchange of culture and literature, thereby promoting ‘Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat’. The selected young authors will interact with some of the best authors of the world, participate in literary festivals etc. 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.
