Goa’s youngsters are not so much disengaged as they are differently engaged
We often hear complaints that today’s youth are not interested in what is happening around them, or that the current generation is more self-centred and career-focused than those who came before them. While this may appear true at a superficial level, it is quite possible that we are misreading the situation, largely because we are starting from wrong assumptions. With today being National Youth Day, it seems appropriate to discuss the issue.
Yes, at many meetings held to discuss public concerns, one often finds gatherings dominated by older and senior citizens. There are only a few black heads in a sea of grey. The perception that youth are less concerned about state-level issues is also reinforced by low youth turnout at gram sabhas and public hearings, limited sustained student participation in local movements beyond short bursts of protest, and a stronger focus on private career paths, migration or entrepreneurship rather than local civic institutions. Traditional spaces of debate, such as tiatr halls, village associations and political study circles, also see fewer young faces. Many youths express scepticism about politics at the same time. All of this spells disengagement.
But look more closely, and you will realise that Goan youth are not so much disengaged as they are differently engaged. They operate in altered social and economic conditions. Their organising often takes newer, less visible forms, such as digital campaigns, informal networks, issue-based collectives, cultural spaces and short-term mobilisations, rather than long-term party or village structures. Many are deeply concerned about a range of issues, including housing, environmental destruction, unemployment, mental health and migration. They do not belong to the generation of the 1960s or the 1970s, when dissent and challenge—during, before and after the Emergency—were in the air.
They encounter structural barriers such as insecure work, a lack of affordable housing, weak student unions and political systems that reward loyalty over ideas. Decision-making is tightly held by older elites, and participation is often reduced to tokenism.
Recognised or not, youth today also have their own breed of activists. Some met recently and pledged to work unitedly for the betterment of Goa. Lack of unity is a typical Goan phenomenon, not restricted to the youth alone. Others have been working on their own campaigns, away from the spotlight and headlines.
Perhaps we should not fall for the logic that Goan youth are disinterested in local concerns. They have reason to believe that the terrain of everyday life has shifted beneath their feet, as they cope with challenges such as a multi-year pandemic and economic pressures.
Precarious jobs, rising housing costs, migration pressures and an education system oriented outward are arguably pushing many to think in terms of survival and mobility rather than neighbourhood politics or village institutions. This generation also has to contend with a digital public sphere where attention is drawn to national and global issues, making local life appear small or unrewarding by comparison.
It may look like apathy, but disengagement is also born of exclusion, fatigue and even a sense that participation does not translate into meaningful change. After all, blaming the current generation for “disinterest” also points a finger at an earlier generationwhich gave birth to and nurtured the current generation in the way it shaped up.
So, let us not read what appears as withdrawal simply as a lack of concern for Goa’s future. Do the authorities want to listen to their voice?
