Young Bhartiya
incubates ideas for a
better tomorrow
Young Bhartiya Foundation, a student based research motivated
think tank that aims to empower the youth of this country,
has completed a year since its inception. Its young founder and
trustee, 22-year-old Ameya Pratap Singh, talks about its
journey, accomplishments and challenges.
Q
To start with, could you tell us a little bit about your background?
I primarily identify myself as an academic. I graduated in Political Science from
Xavier’s College, Mumbai. After that I completed my Masters in International
Relations from the London School of Economics. I am currently pursuing M.Phil
from Cambridge University. I am also an athlete and represented the state and
country in swimming, shooting and water polo.
Q
What led you to start Young Bhartiya?
Talking about my journey as an entrepreneur, I had a lot of policy experience
during my undergraduate years. I worked with chief minister Prithviraj Chauhan’s
election campaign, Child Right Commission, President’s Secretariat in New
Delhi, Smart Village initiative, etc.
These experiences made me realize that more people in the discipline of
humanities need to come together and brainstorm, more participants need
to be there in nation’s policy mechanism. While the scientific fields have
substantial backing, I found that the humanities processes are more or less
isolated from the younger generation. Ours is a young country. There is an
unmistakable vacuum for research and analysis on issues among
youngsters. For example, in my education abroad, research played a
prominent role. There was analytical study, research papers, writing
essays, where as in India the method is more memory based. You tend
to become a conformist here, you tend to get swayed, and you are more
accepting and less critical of policies.
Young Bhartiya is conceptualized to ignite young minds. The
Young Bhartiya is a research motivated think tank that aims to
empower the youth of this country. It would help students to
conduct research and analysis on various fields, and also voice
their opinions on the issues faced by the contemporary world.
Q
So what would the fundamental concept of Young
Bhartiya?
Young Bhartiya is a journey. There was particular term
which Greek philosopher Plato would use ‘Praxeology’
meaning a journey from theory to practice; so young
Bhartiya is also about this journey, this social en-
trepreneurship. We conduct research on policy,
acquire knowledge and to collate the latent