Translating Demographic Potential into Human Development: An Innovative Initiative of YUWA- JOSH on National Youth Building in India
Keywords:
Youth , Multidimensional , Education policy , JOSH ,WellnessAbstract
India’s demographic dividend presents a time-bound opportunity where investments in youth health and wellness can decisively influence human development outcomes and long-term economic growth. Young people increasingly face multidimensional vulnerabilities including mental health challenges, lifestyle-related morbidities, emotional dysregulation, substance use, social stressors and elevated suicide risk. While global initiatives such as the Global Youth Wellbeing Index, UNICEF’s Youth-led Action Initiative and the WHO Youth Council and national frameworks including the National Youth Policy 2025, National Education Policy 2020 and Supreme Court guidelines on student suicide prevention underscore the urgency of holistic youth development, structured and preventive wellness models at the institutional grassroots level remain limited.
YUWA-JOSH (Youth Upliftment and Wellness through Awareness: A Journey towards Optimism, Strength and Harmony), implemented by the Social Outreach Cell, AIIMS Rishikesh, offers an innovative, university-based, multidimensional youth wellness framework. The programme conceptualises health beyond the absence of disease and systematically assesses wellness across physical, mental, social, spiritual, occupational and financial domains. This is followed by evidence-informed behaviour change interventions delivered through interactive expert-led sessions, including mindfulness practices, emotional regulation, progressive muscle relaxation, workplace yoga, and creative experiential techniques such as colour and balloon therapy.
To date, YUWA-JOSH has reached over 5,000 youth across universities and educational institutions and demonstrated feasibility and acceptability in diverse academic settings. The model provides a scalable, multi-pronged framework for embedding university health and wellness ecosystems aligned with national priorities for youth empowerment and sustainable development.
Downloads
References
Fast Facts: Youth as Partners for the Implementation of the SDGs | United Nations Development Programme [Internet]. [cited 2026 Feb 20]. Available from: https://www.undp.org/publications/fast-facts-youth-partners-implementation-sdgs
PRESS NOTE PRESS NOTE ON PERIODIC LABOUR FORCE SURVEY (PLFS) NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION GOVERNMENT OF INDIA.
Kaur U, Hasija AM, Chaudhary S, Chandna V. Demographic Dividend: An Asset for India. RESEARCH REVIEW International Journal of Multidisciplinary. 2022 Jan 20;7(1):134–43. doi:10.31305/rrijm.2022.v07.i01.020
Adolescent and young adult health [Internet]. [cited 2026 Feb 20]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/adolescents-health-risks-and-solutions?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Suicide [Internet]. [cited 2026 Feb 20]. Available from: https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/suicide
Suicide - India [Internet]. [cited 2026 Feb 20]. Available from: https://www.who.int/india/health-topics/suicide
Ssewamala FM. Optimizing the ‘demographic dividend’ in young developing countries: The role of contractual savings and insurance for financing education. Int J Soc Welf. 2014 Jul 1;24(3):248. doi:10.1111/IJSW.12131 PubMed PMID: 26273211.
The Technical Group, On Population Projections. Population Projections For India And States 2011 - 2036 [Internet]. NIRMAN BHAWAN, NEW DELHI - 110011; 202AD Jul [cited 2026 Jan 29]. Report. Available from: https://www.mohfw.gov.in/?q=en/reports-0
World Population Prospects UN (UN). UN Population Division [Internet]. [cited 2026 Jan 29]. Health: Population: Dynamics. Available from: https://databank.worldbank.org/metadataglossary/World-Development-Indicators/series,country?search=working%20population
Vienna) UNAC for the IYY (1st sess.?: 1980?:, Secretary-General UN. Report of the Secretary-General. [Internet]. UN,; 1981 [cited 2026 Jan 29]. Available from: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/21539
National Youth Policy -2025 | Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports | Government of India [Internet]. [cited 2026 Jan 29]. Available from: https://yas.nic.in/en/documents/national-youth-policy-2025
Nations U. Human Development Report 2025. Human Development Reports. 2025.
Ghislandi S, Sanderson WC, Scherbov S. A Simple Measure of Human Development: The Human Life Indicator. Popul Dev Rev. 2018 Mar 1;45(1):219. doi:10.1111/PADR.12205 PubMed PMID: 31007310.
World Bank. South Asia Development Update, April 2024: Jobs for Resilience. South Asia Development Update, April 2024: Jobs for Resilience. 2024 Apr 2. doi:10.1596/41212
Chandrasekhar CP, Ghosh J, Roychowdhury A. The “Demographic Dividend” and Young India’s Economic Future. Economic and Political Weekly [Internet]. 2006 [cited 2026 Jan 30]. p. 5055–64. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/262126869_The_’Demographic_Dividend’_and_Young_India’s_Economic_Future
Sharma R. Global Youth Wellbeing Index 2017 [Internet]. 2017 Nov [cited 2026 Jan 30]. Report. Available from: www.youthindex.org
Helping Adolescents Thrive Toolkit: strategies to promote and protect adolescent mental health and reduce self-harm and other risk behaviours. World Health Organization [Internet]. Geneva: pesquisa.bvsalud.org; 2021 [cited 2026 Feb 3]. Report. Available from: https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240025554
The UNICEF Youth Action Guide | UNICEF Youth-Led Action [Internet]. 2022 May [cited 2026 Feb 2]. Report. Available from: https://www.unicef.org/youthledaction/reports/unicef-youth-action-guide
WHO Youth Council [Internet]. 2024 [cited 2026 Feb 3]. Available from: https://www.who.int/initiatives/who-youth-engagement/who-youth-council
Home | Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports | Government of India [Internet]. [cited 2026 Feb 3]. Available from: https://yas.gov.in/
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. Draft National Youth Policy - 2025 Document. Government of India [Internet]. 2025. p. 1–26. Available from: https://yas.gov.in/en/national-youth-policy
Home | MYBharat [Internet]. [cited 2026 Feb 3]. Available from: https://mybharat.gov.in/
DEPARTMENT OF YOUTH AFFAIRS. NATIONAL YOUTH CORPS . 2023 Mar. Report.
Department of Youth Affairs. National Young Leaders Programme (NYLP). New Delhi; 2014 Dec. Report.
Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports. National Youth Advisory Council. Government of India [Internet]. 2020 May. Available from: https://yas.nic.in/sites/default/files/NYAC%20under%20NYLP%20of%20RYSK.pdf
Ministry of Human Resource Development. Government of India [Internet]. 2020 [cited 2026 Feb 20]. p. 1–63. National Education Policy 2020. Available from: https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_English_0.pdf
Guidelines on Student Suicide Prevention - Supreme Court Observer [Internet]. [cited 2026 Feb 20]. Available from: https://www.scobserver.in/supreme-court-observer-law-reports-scolr/amit-kumar-v-union-of-india-guidelines-on-student-suicide-prevention/
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Santosh Kumar, Dr Sakshi Gautam
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
