सामाजिक, राजनैतिक, आर्थिक एवं सांस्कृतिक क्षेत्रों के संदर्भ में भारतीय युवाओं पर वैश्वीकरण के प्रभाव का मूल्यांकन कीजिए।
Read this question in English
Evaluate the impact of globalization on Indian youths with reference to social, political, economic and cultural spheres.
🧭 How to think about this question · directive: “evaluate”
Decode the demand
- Directive 'evaluate': weigh gains against costs in each sphere and reach a judgement; a list of effects without a verdict earns little.
- Four named spheres: social, political, economic, cultural. Each needs its own heading with both sides; skipping one costs a quarter of the marks.
- The subject is 'Indian youths': every point must be about the 15–29 group, not Indian society in general; carry one demographic figure to fix the frame.
- The trap: writing 'globalisation is good and bad'. The examiner wants who gains and who pays, so use sociological concepts (anomie, glocalisation, westernisation vs modernisation) and real data.
Think in a structure
- Open with the youth share of population and the fact that this generation knows no pre-1991 India; then turn to the four spheres.
- A gains–costs table up front gives the examiner the whole evaluation in one glance; the headings then supply reasons, thinkers and examples under each sphere.
- One judgement heading that says clearly: net gain, unequally shared; then a positive 'what I would do' heading with a real scheme under each measure.
- Close with a thinker's insight that resolves the paradox: openness without loss of footing (Gandhi's open windows).
Facts checked at source (7)· open
- MoSPI, Youth in India 2022: youth aged 15–29 were 27.2% of the population in 2021, projected to fall to 22.7% by 2036 (still about 345 million).Youth in India 2022 — National Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation ↗“youth in the age group of 15-29 years comprise 27.2% of the population for year 2021 which is expected to decrease to 22.7 by 2036”
- NITI Aayog (2022): 77 lakh workers were in the gig economy in 2020–21.NITI Aayog launches report on India's Gig and Platform Economy — PIB, NITI Aayog ↗“The report estimates that in 2020–21, 77 lakh (7.7 million) workers were engaged in the gig economy.”
- NITI Aayog projects the gig workforce to reach 2.35 crore by 2029–30.NITI Aayog launches report on India's Gig and Platform Economy — PIB, NITI Aayog ↗“The gig workforce is expected to expand to 2.35 crore (23.5 million) workers by 2029–30.”
- The Code on Social Security, 2020 recognises gig and platform workers for the first time and creates a Social Security Fund for them.Code on Social Security, 2020: Towards Universal and Inclusive Social Protection — PIB Backgrounder, Ministry of Labour and Employment ↗“Recognizes Gig and Platform workers for the first time and establishes a Social Security Fund for their welfare”
- On 11 December 2014 the UN proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga by resolution 69/131.International Day of Yoga — United Nations ↗“on 11 December 2014, the United Nations proclaimed 21 June as the International Day of Yoga by resolution 69/131”
- PM Internship Scheme (Budget 2024-25): internships for one crore youth in the top 500 companies over five years.Prime Minister's Internship Scheme — PIB, Ministry of Corporate Affairs ↗“aims to provide internship opportunities to one crore youth in top 500 companies in five years”
- NITI Aayog's 2022 gig economy report found about 47% of gig work in medium-skilled jobs, 22% in high-skilled and 31% in low-skilled jobs.NITI Aayog launches report on India's Gig and Platform Economy — PIB, NITI Aayog ↗“At present about 47% of the gig work is in medium skilled jobs, about 22% in high skilled, and about 31% in low skilled jobs.”
Question: UPSC's CS (Main) 2026, GS Paper I — paper ↗. Guidance: Minimalist IAS, checked 8 Nov 2026 (how we verify). ·
Model answer· 614words · Minimalist IAS
Youth aged 15–29 formed 27.2% of India's population in 2021 (MoSPI, Youth in India 2022), the first generation raised wholly after the 1991 reforms. Globalisation reached them as a ladder and a pressure at once; the balance differs by sphere and by who the young person is.
| Sphere | Gains for youth | Costs for youth |
|---|---|---|
| Economic | Global jobs, gig work, mobility | Precarity, skill polarisation |
| Social | Choice, changing gender norms | Anomie, stress, comparison |
| Political | Civic voice, global causes | Polarisation, misinformation |
| Cultural | Glocal confidence | Homogenisation, language loss |
Economic sphere
- Opportunity: IT, services and start-ups tied young Indians to global demand; the gig economy is the newest ladder.
- NITI Aayog (2022): 77 lakh gig workers in 2020–21, projected to reach 2.35 crore by 2029–30.
- Mobility and remittances: study and work abroad turn 'brain drain' into a circulation of skills and capital back home.
- Precarity: gig and contract work lack a wage floor or pension; the Code on Social Security, 2020 recognises gig workers for the first time.
- Skill polarisation: growth rewards the credentialed; degrees without skills leave educated youth waiting longest for work.
- NITI Aayog: about 47% of gig work is medium-skilled, 22% high-skilled and 31% low-skilled.
Social sphere
- Individualisation: career, partner and city are now chosen, not inherited; Giddens calls this the reflexive self of late modernity.
- Changing gender norms: educated young women claim work and public space, though participation still lags aspiration.
- Anomie: migration and nuclear households thin kin support; Durkheim's anomie shows up as loneliness and stress.
- Comparison culture: social media sets global benchmarks of body, income and success that few can meet.
- Tele-MANAS, the national tele-mental-health helpline, is a state response to this rising distress.
Political sphere
- Civic voice: global vocabularies of rights, climate and gender give young people causes and the digital tools to mobilise.
- The 2011 anti-corruption movement and the 2012 Delhi protests were organised largely through phones and social media.
- Global citizenship: climate strikes and human-rights campaigns link Indian youth to peers across borders.
- Polarisation: algorithms reward outrage; misinformation and echo chambers harden identities before judgement matures.
- Disengagement risk: when jobs lag promises, cynicism toward institutions grows faster than participation.
Cultural sphere
- Glocalisation: youth blend global and local idioms, Robertson's 'glocal' culture, rather than copying the West.
- 21 June became the International Day of Yoga by UN resolution 69/131 (2014): a local practice gone global.
- Westernisation versus modernisation: M.N. Srinivas's distinction fits; Yogendra Singh saw tradition itself modernising, not vanishing.
- Homogenisation: Ritzer's McDonaldisation shows in brands, food and dress; regional languages and folk forms lose young speakers.
- Mistaken modernity: Dipankar Gupta warns that consuming Western goods without modern values yields a shallow modernity.
Overall judgement
- Net gain, unequally shared: connected, English-educated urban youth capture the gains; rural, less-educated and female youth bear the costs.
- Spheres pull apart: economic and cultural gains are visible and counted; social and political costs are slower and rarely measured.
What I would do as a policymaker
- Skills before degrees: vocational tracks from school under NEP 2020 and industry-linked internships.
- PM Internship Scheme: one crore internships in the top 500 companies over five years.
- Portable social security: notify and fund the Code on Social Security, 2020 schemes for gig workers through e-Shram registration.
- Mental health on campus: counsellors in every college and Tele-MANAS publicised among students.
- Civic and digital literacy: media-literacy modules in schools and SVEEP-style campaigns for first-time voters.
- Cultural confidence: mother-tongue schooling and Yoga-Day-style promotion of Indian practices, so exchange runs both ways.
Gandhi wanted the winds of all cultures to blow freely through his house without sweeping him off his feet; for India's roughly 345 million youth, skills, social security and cultural confidence are the foundations that let them stand firm in that wind.
Prepared by Minimalist IAS to the answer standard of Shivam Singh (mentor, 7 years) · facts checked against official sources (how we verify) · updated 8 Nov 2026. UPSC publishes no model answers: compare your structure and coverage with this, then write your own.
