Youth in Agastyamuni: A Bridge to Sustainable Development

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In the quaint Himalayan town of Agastyamuni, where mountains stand sentinel, a new generation dreams beyond what they're simply told. This essay journeys into the mind of a young visionary ready to rewrite the rules of governance to transform their fragile home. It’s a story of hope, where youthful energy rooted in the ancient soil of her hometown dares to turn challenges into change.

Imagination is a beautiful thing. It gives you hope, and sometimes the labyrinth of our mind takes us to the doorstep of solutions. Solutions that were hidden in plain sight. My imagination took me and my friends to our town hall in Agastyamuni, a small Nagar Panchayat of 6,000 people in the Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand. For what? This time neither to perform a cultural programme as students nor to receive a prize after scoring well in board exams. But we will be there to seize the table that governs our small town and its neighbouring villages. We will be the flag bearers of change in the governance of our rural, ‘rapidly turning to’ urban township.

Agastyamuni, a town on the banks of the river Mandakini, was declared a Nagar Panchayat in 2014. The town is in a transition phase where the market area and main settlement resemble an urban setting but are flanked by rural areas, with people enjoying the life of an urban-rural mix. The town has many people from neighbouring villages accumulated for health and education facilities. This Nagar Panchayat has seen 2 elections resulting in 2 sets of leaders, but the average range of age of leaders remains 50-60 years. 

How will we, who were born so much later than the current era of leaders, change the fate of this township? The question is intriguing, but the solution will be what makes it more interesting. We are here with solutions with a touch of modernity. There will be a generation gap between the leaders at present and us, the youth, but we are going to harness these differences. 

Modern problems need modern solutions. The unravelling of old fabrics has sewn new sets of garments where our society needs to fit in and governance needs to be compatible. This new era needs new blood. 

Governance is a dynamic concept. At the grassroots level in Nagar Panchayats, you need penetration among your people to know what the needs are. The older lot are set in their own ways and accustomed to their lives; there is no high desire for changes. Not even awareness. But we will be there, young ones, trying to contain our energy and ideas. We will identify the problems and bring solutions to them. Keeping the development parallel to new concepts of climate change, wildlife, culture conservation, employment and all schemes the government in Delhi frames for us because awareness will be the key to implementation. 

E-governance will be our greatest tool. We have grown up with the internet. The new generation has high awareness of the world. The children of globalisation we observe and emulate. Right now, the internet is our favourite. 

“Almost everything that is great is done by the youth.” - Benjamin Disraeli, Former British Prime Minister

An e-revolution will take off in our township. Awareness among the masses will make them stronger. Democracy thrives on information. We will have a system of spreading information via the internet. Reels on Instagram and YouTube create short films and live stream weekly meetings via Zoom calls. This gives all Gen-Z vibes, but in truth the principle remains citizens knowing what their rights are and what is being done by their leaders. 

There will be access to the internet. Not just the infrastructure in towers and wiring but also classes for the new users on how to access websites and how to complain about policies. These classes will help the elderly to become part of the community. Their experience will help a lot. 

Good governance will have good results. We as youth thrive on good comments on an Instagram post. So we will definitely manage a feedback forum, both digitally and manually. A website or a feedback box in different locations and an active grievance redressal will be in place. Gone will be the days of standing in lines to access public officials. Time for quick complaints and actions. 

The biggest grievance of Agastyamuni is disasters and its unstable topography. Recurrent cloudbursts, flash floods and earthquakes are anathemas to us. We as youngsters need to find out modern solutions blended with traditional ones for this. Fresh memories of the June 2013 floods starting from Kedarnath are a lesson. Weather data availability for all at all times; early warning systems will form our defence. 

“We cannot build our future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” - Franklin D. Roosevelt, 32nd US President

The future of Agastyamuni depends on young leaders who learn today and implement tomorrow.

This Nagar Panchayat has a high cover of forest area, and we are keen to conserve it and its wildlife. There will be tagging and mapping of wildlife to reduce human-animal conflicts and drone usage for dousing annual wildfires. Drones will also be used for afforestation, taking cues from Telangana, where drones dropped seeds in inner forests. 

There is a problem of migration of youth due to unemployment. How can we, as youth, let our peers move to cities when we need to make our community stronger here? There will be upscaling of skills and foreign language courses for increasing work-from-home abilities. Agriculture will be the saviour with new crops coming in—the purple revolution via lavender. Bamboo cultivation, hydroponics, and aquaponics will be used to create agriculture as a field of employment and moneymaking. 

Multiple employment opportunities can be created by us via the internet. As well as increasing health and education facilities, it will increase people’s contentment, and we will not be leaving town for these reasons.

All things considered, we will be happy and robustly changing our town for the better via this initiative. Let me hold the horses of my imagination now. I may not be a career politician for now, but there is always hope. 

“The primary objective should be the education of youth in governance. In a republic, what species of knowledge can be equally important? And what duty is more pressing than communicating it to those who are to be future guardians of the liberties of the country? - George Washington, 1st US President

 Yes, it's true. We will be the future, and together we will shape the course of government. It is only right we come forward and start taking the reins. My imagination may have led me to that doorstep in a small Himalayan town of Agastyamuni and changed my view of my city with my own efforts. How will we together change our nation for the better with this energy surging inside? The youngest nation in the world will take its rightful place of Vishwaguru only when the youth becomes a part of governance at every level. 

Together for the nation, an anthem we sang, 

Governance is the answer for the young. 

New age needs have new demands,

Youth will be the leaders taking command. 

About the Author

Shrishti Jangwan

Hailing from Agastyamuni in Uttarakhand, which lies enroute to the Kedarnath temple, Shrishti is presently pursuing a Masters in History from Delhi University. An avid reader, she values spending time with her family and exploring her Garhwali heritage. She is driven by her passion for weaving narratives that connect the past to the present.