Rohan Kothari is a pre-medical student at Brock University in Canada. In August 2008, Rohan spent three weeks at the 'Aadhar' facility to study youth in slum areas. He tried to understand the health, social and economic problems that urban youth face in their communities. His report was entitled: "Aadhar Initiative: Empowering Young People in Developing Countries". In this report he has analyzed: To what extent has a youth-centered model, such as Aadhar, motivated and empowered young people to become leaders in their chosen areas; with a specific case study on youth living in the Jawahar Nagar Kacchi Basti (slum community) of Jaipur, Rajasthan, India.
The study concludes that community centres with a youth focus, such as Aadhar, are needed on a large scale in the state and nation in order to motivate slum-dwelling youth to become leaders. In addition to the existing services and programmes offered by Aadhar, the following, as expressed by the youth, should be added to the community centres:
Career counselling and human resource services
Family counselling aimed at changing orthodox norms of society
Awareness about the importance of proper nutrition and diet
Merit and financial need-based scholarships and bursaries for youth pursuing higher education
The implementation of community centres incorporating the 'Aadhar' model and the additions mentioned above on a state and nation wide level will provide poor slum-dwelling youth with the resources and the platform to become leaders in their chosen areas. These leaders will be motivated, focused, highly educated, confident individuals who will contribute fully to the demographic dividend and as a result propel the nation forward, economically and socially.
For details, see: Rohan Kothari (2009), Aadhar Initiative: Empowering Young People in Developing Countries. MIPD Working Paper No. 7.
