Geetanjali Krishna: For the citizens of tomorrow

PEOPLE LIKE THEM

We were discussing a much talked about case last week, when some school kids in an impromptu car race in Gurgaon ran over a security guard, and then tried to buy his silence. Over the next few days, all I heard was condemnation for the boys concerned. It took a man who's seen over sixty summers to help me understand that the problem wasn't with what they'd done, but with the system that gave them too little direction "" and too many opportunities to go off track.

The man was Dr UNB Rao, and he has a huge bone to pick with the government that's yet to formulate a policy on adolescents. "At 23 per cent of the Indian population, teens are India's largest demographic category," he points out, "India's vision of being a global power in 2020 can't be realised if we don't invest more planning and time for teenagers today "" they're tomorrow's citizens, not you and I!" Adolescents, he says, have a unique set of problems "" bodily changes and board exams; uncertainty about their futures and the urge to test their limits; social approval and dissatisfaction with how they look. "They flourish in supportive environments, with trained and empathetic adults to guide them and provide a safe platform to exchange ideas," says he.

With this aim, Rao, a retired IPS officer, started the Urivi Vikram Charitable Trust (UVCT) in 1991. Today, UVCT runs 10 centres all over the country, some training as many as 300 teenagers at a time. Trained teachers teach vocational courses, career guidance and training in life skills here. UVCT's flagship program is Shakti, the life skills programme. Primarily directed at academic under-achievers, this interactive course is about positive thinking and constructive solutions to teenage problems. Rao's programme has been so successful that UNDP has adopted it for their own use after giving Rao due credit. "To me, the measure of Shakti's success is that when I walk through the centre, I can identify most Shakti children by their self-confidence!" says Rao, whose post-retirement doctoral thesis from IIT Delhi was on policing and adolescents. The centre's library houses literature on a multitude of career options. A counsellor comes in every week.

Needless to say, success stories abound. "Many girls who come to us are poor, and after learning beauty therapy and stitching here, are able to bring home a welcome extra income," says Mrs Rao, who plays an active role in running the UVCT centres. A young boy who joined their Bombay centre was so fed up with his poverty that he had decided to commit suicide. Instead, he learnt basic electrical work at UVCT, and is now supporting his entire family.

This is what the Raos were looking for when they began UVCT. For it was deep personal tragedy that compelled them to work with adolescents. Their 20-year-old son died in 1990 in a road accident, and the trust is in his memory. Today, UVCT has grown beyond Rao's expectations "" and budget. Until now, they received funds from the government, the UN and friends. But this year, the government funds have dried up. "Our Delhi centre alone costs about Rs 1 lakh a month to maintain," says Mrs Rao, "we are constantly dipping into our pension." But the results are encouraging "" through their efforts, the Planning Commission now has a sub-group on adolescents, and the ministry of youth and sports affairs is now planning programmes for their welfare. For the Raos, true satisfaction comes from the bright, confident youngsters around them. Maybe, just maybe, they glimpse their lost son in their smiles.