Union Home Minister, Rajnath Singh inaugurated the World Population Day-2014 celebrations jointly organised by the Office of Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) here today. Shri Rajnath Singh said the census organisation has been following a data dissemination strategy which aims at developing a healthy camaraderie with all sections of data users, young and old, tech savvy or otherwise, both within the Government or outside.Rajnath Singh launched YouthInfo India, CensusInfo India and Census Digital Library through software based module on CD on this occasion. The Home Minister mentioned that India has one of the world’s largest adolescent and youth population. He mentioned that the total population of young persons in the age group 10-24 years is about 36.50 crore. Thus, every third person is young in the country. The data also shows that every fifth person in the country is an adolescent in the age group 10-19 years. The theme of World Population Day 2014, ‘Investing in Young People in India’ is the best way to develop the competitive advantage for the country and there is an urgent need to address their concerns. He said that there is also a need to create an atmosphere where they are able to pursue their goals and excel in their chosen fields.
Rajnath Singh commended the support extended by the UN agencies such as UNFPA and UNICEF to jointly produce software based modules CensusInfo India and YouthInfo India Portal. He hoped that the panel discussions organised on this occasion will be productive and useful for researchers and policy makers. Kiren Rijiju, Minister of State for Home Affairs also addressed the participants and mentioned about the importance of the census data with its linkages to the theme - Investing in Young People in India. He further said that the Government is committed for e-governance and digitalisation of data for its users. Anil Goswami, Union Home Secretary, representatives of UNFPA and UNICEF in India and Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India also spoke on this occasion. The representatives of UN Agencies thanked the RGI and the Government of India for bringing them together on the issues of youth and their development in India.