'Yuva Unstoppable' a Player in India's Future

Along with being the 100^th anniversary of the world's largest democracy, 2047 is the year that India is scheduled to become a fully industrialized and developed nation.

Its master plan to make that vision a reality is a document entitled "Viksit Bharat @2047," or "Voice of Youth 2047." Simply put, this vision of an India with a gross domestic product of $30 trillion by 2047 (up from $3.4 trillion today) and whose economic growth, social progress, and environmental sustainability are magnified many times will depend on how the young Indians of today are prepared for the leadership of a world power.

One who recognizes that perhaps more than just about any of his fellow countrymen is Amitabh Shah — 42, entrepreneur, Yale University graduate, and founder of the non-governmental organization known as "Yuva Unstoppable," or Youth Unstoppable."

Yuva, as it is commonly known, and Shah are increasingly watched by a world that is increasingly watching India.

"If you understand Yuva Unstoppable, you will understand the future of India," Shah told me when we were on a panel together at the annual De Tocqueville Conversations in Normandy, France, in July.

Upon earning his MBA from Yale, the young Shah was courted by several high-profile investment firms on Wall Street. To the surprise of many of his classmates, he declined the offers of the prestigious firms.

Rather, he returned to his native India, and in 2005 he launched Yuva Unstoppable to make it possible for more young Indians to take on the jobs he felt are most needed for its future, notably in the areas of engineering and medicine.

"And when I first went to Prime Minister [Narendra] Modi with my idea of actually working in the streets of India, he told me, 'I don't care what school you went to in the U.S. — if you're going to do good in the streets, you should consider how the government works and learning from me,' " Shah recalled, "so I did, and he was right."

Once organized, Yuva Unstoppable took on the so-called "dirty jobs" that are required to make public schools useable and sanitary.

That specifically meant taking public schools in some of India's worst neighborhoods, sanitizing them, providing drinking water, and making toilets available (a major problem in the inner cities).

Also included in the Yuva agenda were modernizing classrooms and laboratories.

An estimated 150,000 volunteers eagerly gave their time and energy over the past two decades to transforming dilapidated schools into institutions to truly prepare students for college and beyond. Among those attracted by Yuva and offering their strong financial support were Bank of America, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Korn Ferry, Disney, Google, and 100 other partners.

Overall, Shah said, "6 million kids were getting health, education, and scholarships in 6,000 needy schools and 25 states. This is the future of India."

Shah's work has been recognized internationally. In 2019, he received the International Ellis Island Award from the Ellis Island Society that promotes better relations between disparate cultures. Among past winners have been seven U.S. presidents, boxing great Muhammad Ali, and civil rights trailblazer Rosa Parks.

As a sign that his efforts were bearing fruit, Shah cited a study by the London School of Economics which, he said, "found a four times improvement in maths and sciences by the students, and 15% in attendance."

The success of Shah and Yuva will no doubt be determined by just how many young Indians will pursue the careers its founder feels are most critical to India's future, and how many are able to "hit the ground running "in the jobs of the future.

India, as the Financial Times recently editorialized, "needs to invest in better education and support women to enter the formal workforce to shift more of the population away from precarious work. That will support income growth and, in turn, drive further job creation."

Shah is confident that Yuva will play a role in the Financial Times's prescription for the India of tomorrow.

Citing the late Peter Sellers as Indian actor Hrundi V. Bakshi in the 1970 film "The Party" and his much-quoted retort to a drunken guest at a party who asks who he thinks he is ("The Indian doesn't think who he is — the Indian knows who he is!"), Shah told us: "The Indian knows who he is — and what the future requires."