Evaluate the impact of globalization on Indian youths with reference to social, political, economic and cultural spheres.

Answer outline

Introduction

India opened its economy with the reforms announced in the Union Budget of 24 July 1991 after a balance of payments crisis; a generation of young Indians has since grown up in an integrated, digital world.

Economic sphere

• Positive: jobs in IT, services, start-ups and global capability centres; overseas employment, with India one of the largest recipients of remittances.
• Negative: growth of gig and platform work with weak security; the Code on Social Security, 2020 (assent 28 September 2020) brought gig and platform workers within social security schemes.
• Skill mismatch and graduate unemployment show uneven gains.

Social sphere

• Greater mobility, urban migration, women's education and work, and loosening of traditional hierarchies.
• Commentators also link globalisation to rising individualism, nuclear families, mental health stress and competitive pressure.
• Digital divide between urban and rural, and rich and poor youth.

Political sphere

• Global ideas of rights, environment and transparency shape youth activism and online campaigns.
• Social media enables mobilisation but also misinformation and polarisation.
• Young voters have been part of the electorate since the voting age was lowered to 18 by the Constitution (Sixty-first Amendment) Act, 1988.

Cultural sphere

• Exposure to global music, food, fashion and languages; growth of hybrid cultures.
• Global reach of Indian cultural products and soft power through the diaspora and streaming.
• Concerns over cultural homogenisation, consumerism and erosion of local languages.

Conclusion

On balance, globalisation has enlarged the horizons of Indian youth, but its benefits are unequally shared; skills, social protection and digital inclusion decide whether young people gain from or are left behind by it.