Continuing with the momentum of the previous editions of their pan India essay contest, the UNESCO New Delhi Cluster and Takhte launched the third edition of the Essay contest book, ‘Year 2 AC (After Coronavirus): A Future Imagined by Youth’ on 17 December 2021.

The book contains a compilation of 100 winning essays written by young Indians and presents their unique perspectives on the challenges that youth face in the wake of the COVID pandemic – from disruption to education, to massive increases in the use of digital challenges. The contest presented them with a platform to imagine solutions to these challenges, both for the short and long terms. Over 900 submissions from across 30 States and Union Territories were received.

The book is a must-read to understand the observations, perspectives, and foresight of young writers across India. It includes a plethora of issues covered by the young writers, varying from education to culture, community to biodiversity, and the environment to disruptions in tourism. The anthology of essays is distinctive and unique, providing an important space for young people to demonstrate their knowledge, capacities, and drive for action.

“This book serves as a repository of reflections drawn directly from the minds of young people across India. What is so inspiring about these essays, however, is that a common thread can be found in young people’s desire and energy for change. They are demonstrating that they have the knowledge and wherewithal to step up and be part of the solution as we recover from the challenges of the pandemic,” said Eric Falt, UNESCO New Delhi Director.

 “Writing can be therapeutic. Children and youth must pen their thoughts as it can be incredibly relieving during these challenging times. Channelling the energy to the exclusive way of expressing and journaling can help one find better solutions,” said Goldie Kasturia, Founder -Takhte & VOV.

Reposted from UNESCO, New Delhi website

The book can be purchased from Takhte’s cart https://takhte.in/cart.php

Eeshan Sonak
The National Academy of Legal Studies and Research
Hyderabad
Telangana

Weekly Winner
(Pan India Online Essay Contest 2021- 3rd Edition)
Category – Youth

Essay Topic:
The pandemic has highlighted the service gaps with respect to communities in rural areas, urban slums, people with disabilities, ethnic minorities, and other backward classes. How can we create more equitable health systems in which we do not leave out the most vulnerable sections of society?

Justice Albie Sacha, the legendary South African Jurist, while hearing the Soobramoney case, was faced with a moral dilemma. Mr Soobramoney, a patient suffering from chronic renal failure, approached the South African Supreme Court asking to order the state hospital’s dialysis service to keep death away for as long as its machines could keep him alive. The hospital’s limited resources meant that only a few renal failure patients could be administered life-saving dialysis treatment. Mr Soobramoney did not qualify for treatment at the State’s expense, as he was unlikely to recover even after treatment and only hoped to gain a few years of life.

Reading about this case and the difficult choice the Court had to make in refusing to interfere was my first introduction to the moral complexity of the enforcement of socio-economic rights. I learnt that resources are always limited. By their very nature, socio-economic rights involve rationing. Such rationing cannot be considered a restriction of the right to access services like healthcare, but the very precondition for its proper exercise. Unlike the right to free speech, which by its very nature is not rationed, the right to access health care is shared, often competitively, with other holders of the right. Therefore, socio-economic rights must have different legal characteristics from the exercise of a classical individual civil right that is autonomous and complete in itself.

While the framing of our Constitution guaranteed first-generation civil and political rights, it has been far from successful in ensuring a progressive realization of second-generation socio-economic rights such as food, housing, health, education and welfare. The inequitable distribution of services has always been regarded as an inherited consequence of past injustice and no indications of a failure to meet current societal obligations.

In this essay, as a law student, I shall use the law and public policy lens to approach the inequitable distribution of healthcare services. As I see it, there are two co-related issues involved: first, the scarcity of healthcare services and resources, and second, the cornering of the few available resources by the dominant classes. In rural India, the first issue poses a, more significant problem. In contrast, in the urban metropolis, we see that the issue is not the inadequacy of facilities but their skewed distribution.

In addressing the first issue, I would draw a parallel to the environment I am most comfortable with- the law school setting. Like most law students in the top tier, National Law Universities seek corporate placements, many of the most gifted medical students seek jobs at high paying private hospitals in urban areas or even abroad. Apart from the existing policies; there should be measures that incentivize a civic sense of community service and social impact. I believe that this model would better tackle the crisis of inadequacy of medical services in rural India. However, understandably, the issue of capacity building in the healthcare sector is a mammoth task that must be progressively achieved.

What is less spoken of and equally destructive is the second issue- the cornering of existing services by a few. In the realm of health, no individual can be faulted for using their resources to gain the best possible treatment or care. I think the burden of addressing this concern rests on those formulating healthcare policy. Private hospitals often enjoy far greater infrastructural facilities and other resources vis-à-vis government hospitals. Apart from strengthening Government hospitals to bridge this wide gap, we could have a policy mandatorily requiring private hospitals to play a more significant part in the cost-free treatment of vulnerable sections of society. In sum, I see instilling a civic sense in the populace and introducing policies as the way forward in addressing the issue of our inequitable health systems.

Anay Gupta
Ajmera Global School,
Borivali West, Mumbai
Maharashtra

Weekly Winner
(Pan India Online Essay Contest 2021- 3rd Edition)
Category – Children

Essay Topic:
Lockdowns and social isolation have led to increased screen time. This entails the risk of exposure to online hate speech, harassment and bullying. What is the role of young people in promoting peace online?

The novel coronavirus has intimidated the entire world and squeezed our way of living. Moreover, humans have had a sudden and untimely digital switch over to virtual life, crunching the world to their devices. All these have attracted juveniles to their screens. However, are the repercussions brimming with an influx of positivity? Although online tools have expanded one’s working and learning space, there are self-centered reprobates who utilize the internet to create panic, terror, annoyance, and anxiety among the crowd; alongside using the online environment to harass a victim or instigate hatred and netwars.

The online medium has witnessed a significant spike in its users and their daily usage. A meagre post on social media platforms goes viral like an irreversible wildfire. The use of WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube and other platforms are widespread among youngsters. These spaces permit uncensored posting (pending moderation or user reporting), even if abusive, that may encourage hate speech, offensive content maiming a rival target. As the world chuckles over a poor subject, it is not uncommon to see derogatory posts being hurled on the quarry. The sufferer remains helpless, teary-eyed over those traceable gibes, and without the intimidation of the anonymity of the viewers. People freely pour out online their hatreds on topics like politics, religion and culture. Blue whale episodes exemplify online influence on children.

Youngsters believe it is ‘cool’ to indulge in online conversations. Unfortunately, in such catastrophic situations, some minds, remotely disguised within the practicality of the internet, are crammed with malicious intentions to create speculations on the reliability of the skeptically peaceful ‘internet’. Is it obligatory to indulge in mockery, harassment, hatred? Social media influencers are now the new role models for the youngsters, and their words, rightly or wrongly, influence the adolescents. The youth must understand that they must mitigate the sufferer and not the bullies or speculators. Supporting the affected instead of fueling the psychological attack will discourage the initiators and encourage a gradual decline of this demeaning practice; reassuring peace and fraternity.

We must maintain an environment of acceptance, harmony, and faith, leading to positivity and enthusiasm amongst youth, directing them to the right path and beliefs. Developing new media and digital literacy skills is one of the approaches to empower youth to use their knowledge to reach out to people for peace and a nonviolent society in the milieu. The youth is a carton of fresh ideas and delicate minds. Using forums as agents for exchanging ideas, for value creation in the true spirit of open dialogue is a way out. Education and the imbibing of positive virtues of brotherhood are the only methods of such constructive brainstorming. Moreover, youth must keep themselves and peers updated with the current world happenings so that they can distinguish between the facts and the fake, and form their own opinions.

Youth is the world’s future, and the correct exposure, empathy, and appropriate use of technology would lead to peace online. Enforcing uncensored independence to express your views should unveil wings to favourable flights for the future rather than drowning fellow users into the treacherous waters of depression.

In the words of Pete Cashmore, “We are living in a time where attention is the new currency. Those who insert them into as many channels look set to capture the most value”. But none of those channels should disparage bullying or hatred, and digital literacy would be most efficient to accomplish this!