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H I N D U STA N T I M E S , M U M B A I M O N DAY, F E B R U A RY 0 6 , 2 0 1 2

Corruption
GRAPHICS: MUKESH SAH

HAVE YOUR EVER PAID A BRIBE?

No
96%

M 42.6%

F 48.0%

45.3%

Yes

M 44.0%

F 40.0%

M 13.4%

42.0%

Won't Say

F 12.0%

12.7%

of Ahmedabads respondents said they have paid a bribe while 77.3% of Kolkatas youth said that they have never done so A higher percentage (47%) of 18-to-21 year olds said that they have paid a bribe vs those between 21 to 25 years (36.9%)

Survey conducted by MaRS Sample size:

18-25 Years

WHO IS PRIMARILY RESPONSIBLE FOR STOPPING CORRUPTION?

7,021

Male

3,506

Female

3,515

Students

Employed

5,367

1,654

Cities

15

Are you a Saint or a Sinner? Take our corruption test : www.hindustantimes.com/ youthsurvey2012

DOUBLE TALK 50% of young Indians think corruption is a necessary evil

A crime of calculation
ILLUSTRATION: RAHUL

Government
M 43.0%, F 46.1%

44.6%

All Citizens
M 31.4%, F 31.3%

31.3%

M 14.1%, F 10.1%

12.1%

Myself

Big Business 3.3% Non-Govt Organisations 7.9% Can't Say 0.8%

HAS ANYONE EVER STOPPED YOU FROM OFFERING A BRIBE?

Yes

IF YOU HAVE TO BRIBE, WOULD YOU FEEL ASHAMED?

27.7% 42.6%

M 31.0% F 24.3%

Yes

No

Cant Say

No

M 39.2% F 46.0%

Can't Say

29.7%

M 29.8% F 29.7%

45.1% 39.3% 15.6%

M 41.2% F 49.1% M 41.8% F 36.7%
94% of Chandigarhs youth said they would not be ashamed to pay a bribe, followed by Ahmedabad at 74.5% The highest number of respondents who said they would feel ashamed was in Lucknow at 73.5%, followed by Delhi at 61%

M 17.0% F 14.2%

Ahmedabad had the highest share (68%) of respondents who said they had not been stopped from offering a bribe, whereas Chandigarh, at 50.3%, had the highest share of those who had been stopped

HAVE YOU EVER

Purchased pirated software
Yes No CS

44.5% M 45.6%, F 43.4% 46.2% M 43.7%, F 48.6% 9.3% M 10.7%, F 8.0%

Illegally downloaded a song or movie from the internet for free

Yes No CS

46.0% M 44.8%, F 47.3% 47.5% M 47.7%, F 47.3% 6.5% M 7.5%, F 5.4%

Paid a cop money to avoid paying a higher fine for a traffic violation
Yes No CS

KumKum Dasgupta

kumkum.dasgupta@hindustantimes.com

harrom Yezdegardi, 25, is an anti-corruption crusader. But he is not a flag-waving, chest-beating and sloganeering type. He did not even visit the MMRDA grounds where activist Anna Hazare sat on a fast in December 2011 for the Lokpal Bill. Instead, the young MBA, who works for a travel company in Mumbai, is itching to pen an anti-corruption song and start a campaign to inculcate the right value system in primary schoolchildren. Bribery is a tradition in this country. It is now in our DNA, says Yezdegardi forcefully. Like Yezdegardi, young India, as the 2012 HT Youth Survey shows, is very much alive to the challenge of corruption. Many among us followed the Lokpal Bill debate keenly. After all, most of us have had to pay bribe at least once in our lives, explains Aditya Bharadwaj, 22, a student at the School of Planning and Architecture, Bhopal. In 2011, Transparency International's Corruption Perception Index ranked

India 95th out of a total of 183 countries that were surveyed. According to the HT survey, over two-fifths of young Indians (42%) have paid a bribe and the proportion is more or less the same among men and women. Among the cities, there is very high incidence of bribing (more than 75%) in Ahmedabad, Chandigarh and Hyderabad and very low in Chennai, Mumbai and Kolkata. This shows that if systems are in place (like in Mumbai), people dont feel the need to bribe even if they are willing to do so, says Santanu Gupta who teaches economics of corruption as part of a public-private partnership course at XLRI, Jamshedpur. The willingness to bribe is high in Delhi and Mumbai because people flock to these cities for opportunities. Says TR Raghunandan, a former civil servant, and now with www.ipaidabribe.com, a citizens initiative which is trying to uncover the market price of corruption in India: Corruption = monopoly plus discretion minus accountability. Interestingly, while the young are serious about the issue, they dont shy away from downloading pirated soft-

ware or films. Every individual is a creature of opportunity and in a dysfunctional system like ours, people will do such things, explains Raghunandan. While Raghunandan agrees with Sharrom that bribing is a widespread phenomenon here, he doesnt attribute it to a lack of a value system. Human beings are conformists by nature. People follow what the majority do. In India, we are yet to achieve a critical mass of honest people. Once we do that, corruption will decrease. He believes that Indias anger against corruption is following a predictable trajectory: thanks to Indias colonial past, there was a fear of the government. But now with economic growth, citizens have become confident and realise that corruption is stopping development. Corruption, says, the former babu, is a crime of calculation. Economic liberalisation and political competition might reduce it in the long run because both tend to limit arbitrary exercise of monopoly power. As for the impact of corruption on India, 80% of young Indians feel that it is making the system inefficient while

50% believe it is a necessary evil. When it comes to punishing the corrupt, 29% of the respondents support public shaming of the corrupt and seizing their properties and 18% are for better laws. Raghunandan, however, feels that strong laws alone cannot stop corruption in an evidence-based judicial system like ours. Instead, the country needs to deepen systemic reforms, unveil strong anti-corruption and monitoring plans (even Mongolia has one), and implement policies that disincentivise corruption.
WEB BUZZ

27.9% M 31.2%, F 24.7% 59.7% M 55.2%, F 64.2% 12.4% M 13.6%, F 11.1%

Taken public transport without buying a ticket

No Ticket

Yes No CS

25.3% M 27.5%, F 23.1% 62.2% M 58.5%, M 65.8% 12.5% M 14.1%, F 11.0%

Used influence to get yourself or someone you know into a school or college?
Yes No CS

24.4% M 26.3%, F 22.6% 58.1% M 56.5%, F 59.7% 17.5% M 17.2%, F 17.7%

Are India's corrupt and dishonest becoming role models for youngsters in the country? To join this discussion and for more on the HT Youth Survey, log onto: www.hindustantimes.com/youthsurvey2012 Tune into Fever 104 FM for additional coverage of the HT Youth Survey

Paid to get your passport or driving licence without going through proper channels
Yes No CS

19.9% M 22.5%, F 17.3% 61.0% M 59.7%, F 62.3% 19.1% M 17.7%, F 20.4%

TOMORROW Youths Habits and Consumption

Hyderabad, at 83.8%, accounted for the highest incidence of those purchasing pirated software 90% of Ahmedabads youth reported bribing a cop to escape higher fines 41% of respondents from Lucknow admitted to having used influence in school or college

VOX POP: RANDOM VOICES OF THE YOUTH FROM ACROSS THE NATION
ANIRUDH SINGH
24 YEARS MANAGER, New-In restaurant, Bhopal

admissions In contrast to an all India average of 19.9%, a third of Delhis youth said that they had obtained a passport or driving license without following due procedures

SHWETA VIJAY KUMAR

23 YEARS, MBA student at The Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India, Gurgaon

BRIBING IS SHAMEFUL: Yes, of course, I feel ashamed but now its become a habit. BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH THE CORRUPT: Publicly shaming them. ARE WE MORE TOLERANT OF CORRUPTION: Yes, Indian people avoid wasting their time in following long procedures. FREE BUT ILLEGAL: Well, no one wants to waste their money unnecessarily on original software. Plus, pirated software is easily available in the market.

ARE INDIANS MORE OR LESS TOLERANT OF CORRUPTION THAN OTHERS?

More Tolerant Less Tolerant Equally Tolerant Can't Say

BRIBING IS SHAMEFUL: Yes, it makes me feel helpless too. BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH THE CORRUPT: Public shaming and not trusting them again. ARE WE MORE TOLERANT OF CORRUPTION: Yes. Without corruption in some form, it is difficult to live and get work done. FREE BUT ILLEGAL: Downloading stuff from the internet doesnt really count. I havent really done this myself but my friends do.

Methodology: Youth Survey 2012 was carried out by MaRS Monitoring and Research Systems among 7021 urban youth in 15 state capitals and major towns in India Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Chandigarh in the North; Kolkata, Patna, Guwahati in the East; Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhopal and Indore in the West; and Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi in the South. Target respondents were both male and female from age group 18-25 years. The respondents were either currently undergraduate students (or above) or employed with graduate education (or above). Respondents were selected at the household level. Disclaimer: The survey data is a copyright of HT Media Limited and MaRS Pvt Ltd. Any use of this survey data would lead to infringement of the copyright and may result in legal action against the infringer.

39.4%

M 37.1%, F 41.8%
in other countries

25.5%

M 26.4%, F 24.7%

17.8%

M 17.6%, F 17.9%

17.2%

M 18.9%, F 15.6%

Lucknow tops the city rankings for youth thinking that Indians are more tolerant of corruption than those

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Sample size:

H I N D U STA N T I M E S , M U M B A I T U E S DAY, F E B R U A RY 0 7 , 2 0 1 2

Habits & Consumption

Age 18-21 Years

3547

Age 21-25 Years

Are you an oversharer on social networking platforms? How much sharing is too much? To join this discussion and for more on the HT Youth Survey, log onto: www.hindustantimes.com/youthsurvey2012

WEB BUZZ

3474

Male

3506
Employed

Female

3515
Cities

Tune into Fever 104 FM for additional coverage of the HT Youth Survey

Full-time students

3792

Student but parttime employed

Young Indias Role Models

What makes today's youth happy? Check out our Youth Survey videos on: www. hindustantimes.com/youthsurvey2012

TOMORROW

1575

1654

15

Survey conducted by MaRS Methodology: Youth Survey 2012 was carried out by MaRS Monitoring and Research Systems among 7021 urban youth in 15 state capitals and major
towns in India Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Chandigarh in the North; Kolkata, Patna, Guwahati in the East; Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhopal and Indore in the West; and Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi in the South. Target respondents were both male and female from age group 18-25 years. The respondents were either currently undergraduate students (or above) or employed with graduate education (or above). Respondents were selected at the household level. Disclaimer: The survey data is a copyright of HT Media Limited and MaRS Pvt Ltd. Any use of this survey data would lead to infringement of the copyright and may result in legal action against the infringer.

@ THE GYM Social networking platforms are rising in popularity and young India is increasingly flexing those muscles
Samar Khurshid

The young and the restless

he largest youth population in the world seems to be growing more active each year, be it in their personal lives or the public sphere, suggests the 2012 Hindustan Times Youth Survey. More young Indians are watching television for news, even if it means reading less; and many more are taking daily trips on the information super highway. Last year, popular social networking websites Facebook and Twitter turned out to be both tools of social interaction as well as demonstration. The number of respondents who used Facebook to make announcements to their friends jumped from 10.1% in the previous survey to 20.65% this time around a statistic that got a big dislike from adman Suhel Seth. People want to wear whatever they have as badges of honour, he says, referring to incessant online status updates. The recent Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) controversy in the United States created a global wave of dissent among the youth. Many saw the Indian governments threats to ban objectionable content online as an echo of these controlling policies. Shishir Shukla, 24, a chartered accountant in Delhi says, it is important to raise ones voice against web censorship. This whole business of censorship is coming up because some people put up weird content they should be blocked. It shouldnt hamper everyone else. I might not go out and protest but I would definitely raise my voice on the internet by blogging and posting wherever possible on how unfair it is, he says. Either way, without Facebook and

samar.khurshid@hindustantimes.com

ILLUSTRATION: RAHUL

VOX POP: RANDOM VOICES OF THE YOUTH FROM ACROSS THE NATION
JITENDRA SINGH RAWAT
24 YEARS, Theatre Artist, Jaipur

REHA KHANNA, 20 YEARS

MEDIUM TO MAKE ANNOUNCEMENTS : Prefer to text friends over Facebook or emails. GO ONLINE: A lot of my work is done online. I find the internet a very useful tool. YOU VIEW FITNESS AS A : A necessary burden. It is important to keep yourself fit and in good shape, but I dont have the time for exercise.

Student, Pearl Academy of Fashion, Delhi

MEDIUM TO MAKE ANNOUNCEMENTS: In person, as feelings and expressions are not possible through internet or phone. GO ONLINE: It depends on my need, usually if I am expecting an official mail. YOU VIEW FITNESS AS A...: It is a necessity for a healthy life.

Twitter, people might need to shut down their computers and log in to the real world. As digital media grows ever stronger and all-pervasive, young people are reading less. Over 60% of respondents spend less than half an hour reading newspapers or magazines every day. Fewer consider newspapers as an important source of news 37.4% in 2011 down to 23.2% in the 2012 survey a thought that gives us print journalists sleepless nights. Meanwhile, internet usage is rising. With tablets, internet TV, mobile broadband and 3G sevices, the web has become easily accessible. In September 2011, India crossed the 100 million internet users mark. HTs survey showed that 24.1% of participants said they were online several times a day, while 35.1% said they used the net once daily thats a lot of fingers clicking away. These are signs of hurried times and attention deficit disorder, says Seth. The growing importance of the internet, whether for news or social networking, is because people want to achieve more with less. They want knowledge from a vending machine. Impatience is now a virtue, no longer a calamity. While print media faces an uphill challenge, the fascination with television and the internet has anything but ebbed. Almost half the respondents, 48.8% to be exact, rely on television for their news. Television debates with belligerently-talkative anchors, who make as much news as they show, seem to be winning out over the humdrum editorials of news dailies. But Rajiv Makhni, managing editor, technology, NDTV, says even television is losing out to the web. Now there is
GRAPHICS: MUKESH SAH

no such thing as prime time television. Because of the net, news and information is available at any time, he says. Many might have thronged the Jaipur Literature Fest this year but the idea of getting an e-version of everything could soon turn into a reality. When the young consumers demand this, the industry giants can do nothing but supply. The power of the written word will come back through apps on smartphones and tablets. Eventually there will be an amalgamation of television, online and print 360 degrees of content, says Makhni. The young and the restless are also taking to physical fitness perhaps explaining why Hrithik Roshans tenweek abs made such big news. Almost two-thirds of the surveyed population consider fitness a part of life rather than a necessary burden. This six-pack culture, as Seth calls it, has made grooming of the body more important than grooming of the mind. Earlier six-packs were associated with beer. Now its about six-pack abs, about how you look and not what you are, he says with disdain. Psychologist Pulkit Sharma says the fitness trend is definitely not a concern with health. It is an appearance addiction common among both sexes. Women prefer laid-back yoga routines while more men work out at the gym. But 43.1% of respondents favoured a walk in the park. Best guess? Dog owners killing two birds with one stone. The future of India seems to be bright tech-savvy, lively, fit and politically aware. The recent advertising war between two rival newspapers in Chennai suggests differently. Maybe they need to get their facts right. (With inputs from Shubhi Vijay)

WHAT IS YOUR PREFERRED MODE OF TRANSPORT ?

Car/Bike

HOW DO YOU MAKE BIG ANNOUNCEMENTS?** 20.6%

10.1%*

Facebook

20.6%
22.2%*

In person

26.8%
27.1%*

SMS

Telephone

30.8%
35.1%* 3.6%*

34.0%

Bus

M: 5.6%; F: 5.8%
M: 4.3%*; F: 3.0%*
Highest

5.7%

Email

M: 5.9%; F: 6.6%
M: 2.3%*; F: 2.1%*

6.3%

Twitter
2.2%*

33.5%
M: 21.2%
11.2%*

F:20.0%
8.8%*

M: 20.8%
22.5%*

F: 20.3%
22.0%*

M: 25.4%
25.8% *

F: 28.2%
28.5% *

M: 31.6%
34.2% *

numbers of Facebook announcers came from Mumbai (45.5%), F: 29.9% followed by Delhi (43.1%) Chennai has the highest SMS users 36.0% *

Auto

20.7%

TIME SPENT DAILY READING NEWSPAPERS/MAGAZINES

30 Min -1 Hr
Overall, 27.8% people read for 30 min-1 hour, with the highest numbers in Jaipur (50.5%), Hyderabad (49.3%) and Bhopal (46%)

YOUR PREFERRED EXERCISE ROUTINE IS...

Outdoor Sports

14.1%
Gym

Don't Exercise

HOW OFTEN DO YOU ACCESS THE INTERNET?

M: 32.6%; F: 37.6%

18.1%* M: 19.4% 20.5%* F: 8.7% 15.0%*

8.2%

M: 7.1% 0.6%* F: 9.4% 1.1%*

0.8%*

About Once A Day

35.1%

24.1%

27.8%
M: 26.9% F: 28.7%

Many Times A Day

M: 25.9%; F: 22.3%

10-15 Min

16.7%

Metro

19.9% 17.2%
M: 19.0% F: 15.4%

23.5%* M: 21.5% 34.6%* F: 11.9% 8.9%*

6.7%

Walk

2.9%

15-30 Min

M: 20.7% F: 19.0%

Cycle

2.1%
M: 44.1% F: 23.9% M: 29.1% F: 37.9% M: 15.4% F: 26.0% M: 6.0% F: 7.4% M: 3.2% F: 2.7% M: 2.1% F: 2.0%

5-10 Min

M: 14.0%; F: 11.1%

Several Times A Week

12.6% 10.3%
About Once A Week

* 2011 Survey figures **Multiple Responses

16.1%
M: 15.1% F: 17.0%

Dont: Read/Not Much

Yoga

17.9%
Fitness

12.2%
M: 10.7% F: 13.6%

An Hour or More

19.5%* M: 12.7% 13.2%* F 23.0% 27.9%*

43.1%

A Walk In The Park

10.0%
M: 9.4%; F:10.5%

Never

M: 9.7%; F: 10.9%

38.0%* M: 39.3% 31.2%* F: 47.0% 47.1%*

7.9%

Less Often
of Jaipurs youth access the internet once a day, followed by Ahmedabad (54%)and Lucknow (51%) Surprisingly, 55.8% of Chandigarhs youngsters said they never access internet, followed by Patna at 42.5%
66%

6.9%

M: 8.3%; F: 7.5%

M: 7.4% F: 6.3%

is a part of life for 91.9% of Hyderabads youth, followed by Indore (91.1%), Bhopal (91%) and Jaipur (86%) 52% of the respondents in Ahmedabad are indifferent to fitness, followed by Chennai at 35.6% and Mumbai at 24.7%

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nation |
Sample size:

H I N D U STA N T I M E S , M U M B A I W E D N E S DAY, F E B R U A RY 0 8 , 2 0 1 2

Role Models
Age 18-21 Years

3547

Age 21-25 Years

Are you an oversharer on social networking platforms? How much sharing is too much? To join this discussion and for more on the HT Youth Survey, log onto: www.hindustantimes.com/youthsurvey2012

WEB BUZZ

3474

Male

3506
Employed

Female

3515
Cities

Tune into Fever 104 FM for additional coverage of the HT Youth Survey

Full-time students

3792

Student but part time employed

The state of mind of our youth in 2012

What do todays youth want to be? Check out our Youth Survey videos on: www. hindustantimes.com/youthsurvey2012

TOMORROW

1575

1654

15

towns in India Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Chandigarh in the North; Kolkata, Patna, Guwahati in the East; Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhopal and Indore in the West; and Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi in the South. Target respondents were both male and female from age group 18-25 years. The respondents were either currently undergraduate students (or above) or employed with graduate education (or above). Respondents were selected at the household level. Disclaimer: The survey data is a copyright of HT Media Limited and MaRS Pvt Ltd. Any use of this survey data would lead to infringement of the copyright and may result in legal action against the infringer.

Survey conducted by MaRS Methodology: Youth Survey 2012 was carried out by MaRS Monitoring and Research Systems among 7021 urban youth in 15 state capitals and major

POKE The Facebook generations choices often defy conventional logic

ILLUSTRATION: RAHUL

Thats the way theylike it

GRAPHICS: MUKESH SAH

WHO ARE THE BEST INDIAN ROLE MODELS FOR THE YOUTH? Sonia Gandhi 7.5% 15.4% M: 6.2%; F: 8.9% Shah Rukh 14.8% Khan
9.6%*
......

7.7%*

APJ Abdul Kalam

16.4%*

M: 6.4%*; F: 9.1%*

11.3%

Amitabh Bachchan . . . . 6.7% M: 6.4%; F: 6.9% MS Dhoni . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1% 6.0%* M: 6.8%; F: 5.3%

Sachin Tendulkar

19.3%*

9.4%
Anna Hazare

M: 5.7%*; F: 6.3%*

8.0%
Rahul Gandhi

Narayana Murthy . 5.3% 2.9%* M: 5.2%; F: 5.3%

M: 2.6%*; F: 3.2%*

Ratan Tata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6% Mukesh Ambani . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6% Kiran Bedi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1% Amartya Sen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5% Pt Ravi Shankar . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2% Chanda Kochhar . . . . . . . . . . 0.6% Cant Say . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6% None of them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2%

Shah Rukh Khan

67%

in Patna chose him followed by 26.6% in Kolkata

Abdul Kalam
He was

chosen by 47% in Cochin, 33% in Bengaluru and 31% in Jaipur in Kolkata chose him, followed by 16.7% in his hometown Mumbai and 16.5% in Delhi

Sachin Tendulkar
18.3%

M: 13.5%; F: 17.4%
M: 9.3%*; F: 9.9%*

M: 17.1%; F: 12.5%
M: 17.5%*; F: 15.3%*

M: 11.6%; F: 11.0%
M: 22.7%*; F: 15.8%*

M: 9.0% F: 9.9%

M: 10.3% F: 5.7%

WHO IS THE SEXIEST MAN ALIVE?

Justin Bieber
M: 4.9%; F: 3.7% M: 4.9%; F: 3.1%
.........

4.3% 4.0%

Salman Khan

28.1% 26.3%*

David Beckham
M: 4.0%; F: 3.8% M: 3.2%; F: 2.7% M: 2.9%; F: 2.8%

....

M: 28.6%; F:27.6%
M: 24.4%*; F: 28.2%*

Justin Timberlake 3.9% Johnny Depp

.........

3.0%

Brad Pitt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.9%

Rahul Gandhi

Robert Pattinson . . . 2.7%

M: 1.4%; F: 3.9%

14.9% 9.6%*
M: 9.3%*; F: 9.9%*

M: 15.3%; F: 14.5%

Ashton Kutcher . . . . . . . 0.8%

M: 0.9%; F: 0.8%

Cant Say . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1%

Aasheesh Sharma

he likes and dislikes of Indian youth are as tough to predict as the English weather, or if you please, the next Facebook status message. They can look up to Kalams intellect one instance and drool over Katrinas curves the next. The youth of the nation embodies all the contradictions and chaos that characterise contemporary India. Consider the pecking order in the HT MaRS Youth Survey 2012. Best living Indian role models? Shah Rukh, APJ Abdul Kalam, Sachin Tendulkar. Most popular global role model? Ahem, a certain Barack Hussein Obama. The American presidents views on outsourcing notwithstanding, he continues to find favour with 28% respondents. And where does he get the biggest thumbs up from? Kolkata, perceived by many to be the last retreat of Indias Left-leaning youth, or whatever is left of the species. Social scientist Shiv Visvanathan isnt surprised. Obama is placed to capture the middle ground, he says. He is a strange amalgamation of the left and the right. I expect him to top most popularity lists, with the innovators. The president of the US gets the most sound bites. Obamas a winner by default.

aasheesh.sharma@hindustantimes.com

THE TEFLON ICONS In the 1980s, Ronald Reagan was referred to as the Teflon President since none of the muck surrounding him stuck. A few desi role models appear to have developed similar powers. Whether it is unkind critics or angry fans, our indefatigable youth icons continue to hold sway. The teams fizz may have fizzled out Down Under, but the wait for the hundredth hundred didnt dent the appeal of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar. Ask former cricketer Atul Wassan why Sachin continues to be among the top 3 Indian role models for the second year running and he says, Coming from a middle class background, he has achieved everything that Indian youth aspire for: the respect of rivals, material riches and the tag of a world-beater. His rise from underdog to top dog is the stuff middle class dreams are made off. Shamsul Islam, associate professor of political science with Delhi Universitys Satyawati College, who has been involved in street theatre since the 1970s, says that all three top role models have left a big impact on mass media. Shah Rukh, Sachin and Kalam are the medias darlings as they have a mind of their own and are not shy of speaking it. These are the kind of icons todays youngsters, hooked to social networking sites, identify with.

BODY BEAUTIFUL Salman Khan, often referred to as our own James Dean, Bollywoods latest hit machine, was voted sexiest man alive ahead of Rahul Gandhi, Hrithik Roshan, John Abraham and Johnny Depp. So, in the same week President Pratibha Patil was announcing that her role models were Indian women who worked in factories and farms Katrina, voted the sexiest woman was working the box office shaking her booty in Chikni Chameli. If you frown upon Sallus penchant for discarding his shirt, think again. Actor, lyricist and writer Piyush Mishra says Salman and Katrina have the Xfactor. The intelligentsia is overrated. You may debate over acting skills, but you cant argue against mass appeal. I am a big fan of Katrinas body of work. Whether it is Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara or Agneepath, she delivers what is expected of her. Rashmi Bansal, the bestselling author of Stay Hungry Stay Foolish and the editor-publisher of youth magazine JAM, says the movie Shah Rukh made this year was below standard. For me, Aamir is a bigger icon for the youth. But then, the Facebook generation often defies conventional logic. Dont believe us? Ask Mark Zuckerberg. He polled just 8.2 % votes in the global role model category.

Hrithik Roshan

14.7% 19.7%*

M: 13.6%; F: 15.9%
M: 18.7%*; F: 20.8%*

John Abraham

WHO ARE THE BEST GLOBAL ROLE MODELS FOR THE YOUTH?
Barack Obama

12.1% 11.3%*

M: 11.2%; F: 12.9%
M: 11.1%*; F: 11.5%*
Salman Khan was chosen by 70% in Patna, 44.7% in Chandigarh and 39% in Ahmedabad as the sexiest man alive Rahul Gandhi was chosen by 52.9% of Hyderabads youth, 34.6% in Bhopal and 25.6% in Chandigarh

28.0%

M: 29.9%; F: 26.0%
M: 28.5%*; F: 30.1%*

29.3%*

Bill Gates

16.4%

M: 17.6%; F: 15.2% M: 20.4%*; F: 18.3%*

19.4%*

LN Mittal

13.6%

M: 12.3%; F: 15%

WHO IS THE SEXIEST WOMAN ALIVE?

Katrina Kaif
Kareena Kapoor . . . . 6.2% 12.0%*
M: 6.2%; F: 6.1%
M: 10.1%*; F: 13.9%*

Dalai Lama

33.6% 27.9%*

8.2%

M: 31.6%; F:35.5%
M: 27.0%*; F: 28.8%*

M: 5.0%; F: 7.3% M: 3.2%; F:2.8%

Shakira . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2% 6.2%*

M: 7.6%; F: 8.8% M: 9.3%*; F: 8.5%*

8.9%*

M: 6.9%*; F: 5.5%*

Paris Hilton . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.0% 1.7%*

M: 1.9%*; F: 1.4%*

8.2%

Mark Zuckerberg

M: 6.8%; F: 9.6%

Beyonce

M: 2.7%; F: 2.4%

..........................

2.5% Lionel Messi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2%

M: 4.4%; F: 3.9%

Lady Gaga . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1%

M: 2.1%; F: 2.1% M: 1.6%; F: 1.7% M: 1.9%; F: 0.6%

Angelina Jolie

Kate Middleton

.............

1.7% 1.2% 4.8%

Hillary Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8%

M: 4.0%; F: 3.6% M: 1.9%; F: 3.2% M: 2.2%; F: 2.3% M: 6.9%; F: 7.5% M: 6.4%; F: 4.9%
43.4%

15.3% 10%*
M: 14.7% F: 15.9%
M: 11.3%* F: 8.6%*

Catherine Zeta-Jones

........

Kate Middleton

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6% ........................

VOX POP: RANDOM VOICES OF THE YOUTH FROM ACROSS THE NATION
INDRAJIT CHATTERJEE
20 YEARS, student, Kolkata

Bipasha Basu

Cant Say

13.9%
M: 13.7% F: 14.2%
M: 12.9%* F: 14.0%*

M: 5.2%; F: 4.3%

........................

Warren Buffett Can't Say

2.2% 7.2%

None of Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.9%

M: 2.4%; F: 1.5%

AMAN KUMAR MANIK,

18 YEARS, CA student, Delhi

................................

None of Them . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6%

Jennifer Lopez

BEST INTERNATIONAL ROLE MODEL: I worship Lionel Messi. There is no escaping his charm on or off field. SEXIEST MAN ALIVE: David Beckham is the sexiest. I like the way he plays, his tattoos and his style. SEXIEST WOMAN ALIVE: For her pretty face and her sizzling moves, our Sheila aka Katrina Kaif.

BEST INTERNATIONAL ROLE MODEL: Bill Gates, because he does a lot of charity work and his success is an inspiration for the youth. SEXIEST MAN ALIVE: I havent really given sexy men a thought. SEXIEST WOMAN ALIVE : Its definitely got to be Angelina Jolie. She is truly an international star.

7.7% M: 9.8%; F: 5.6%

Kaif is the sexiest woman alive with highest shares coming from Chandigarh (73.9%), Patna (67%) and Lucknow (64.5%) Angelina Jolie was voted the second sexiest woman alive 28.2% in Hyderabad, 27.5% in Ahmedabad and 26.6% in Delhi chose her
Katrina

of Kolkatas youth chose him as their top global role model, followed by Indore (39.6%), Hyderabad and Guwahati (both at 38.5%)

Barack Obama

* 2011 Survey figures

Bill Gates
34.5%

LN Mittal
Chosen

youth in tech-centre Bengaluru chose him, followed by Chennai at 28.3% by 54.5% in Patna, followed by 39.2% in Chandigarh

H I N D U STA N T I M E S , M U M B A I T H U R S DAY, F E B R U A RY 0 9 , 2 0 1 2

metro special | 13
Given the recent crackdown on Facebook, Google and Twitter for 'offensive' material - are we losing our sense of humour? To join this discussion, log onto: www.hindustantimes.com/youthsurvey2012

Sample size:

State of Mind
Age 18-21 Years

WEB BUZZ

3547

Age 21-25 Years

3474

Male

3506
Employed

Female

3515
Cities

Tune into Fever 104 FM for additional coverage of the HT Youth Survey

Full-time students

3792

Student but part time employed

Career and Money

What makes todays youth happy? Check out our Youth Survey videos on: www. hindustantimes.com/youthsurvey2012

TOMORROW

1575

1654

15

towns in India Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Chandigarh in the North; Kolkata, Patna, Guwahati in the East; Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhopal and Indore in the West; and Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi in the South. Target respondents were both male and female from age group 18-25 years. The respondents were either currently undergraduate students (or above) or employed with graduate education (or above). Respondents were selected at the household level. Disclaimer: The survey data is a copyright of HT Media Limited and MaRS Pvt Ltd. Any use of this survey data would lead to infringement of the copyright and may result in legal action against the infringer.

Survey conducted by MaRS Methodology: Youth Survey 2012 was carried out by MaRS Monitoring and Research Systems among 7021 urban youth in 15 state capitals and major

HAPPY GO LUCKY They may have less to smile about this year, but the youth still consider family as their chief source of joy
HT Research

Being young aint much fun

research@hindustantimes.com

ILLUSTRATION: RAHUL

VOX POP: RANDOM VOICES OF THE YOUTH FROM ACROSS THE NATION
ADITI GUPTA,
19 YEARS Student, School of Open Learning, Delhi

ROOPA DAS, 18 YEARS

BE, Rishi Raj Institute of Technology, Indore

I WORRY MOST ABOUT: Achieving success it matters a lot in this competitive atmosphere. WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY: Friends. It's fun being with them. STYLE QUOTIENT: Pretty stylish. I like to dress up. WORRIED ABOUT LOVE? Not really.

I WORRY MOST ABOUT: With my exams on, I am worried about the results. WHAT MAKES ME HAPPY: My friends and family who are always with me. STYLE QUOTIENT: I dont worry about being stylish. WORRIED ABOUT LOVE? I am a romantic person but dont worry about finding love.

illions of smileys are exchanged over the latest iPhones and BlackBerrys. Likes and tweets flood social networking sites daily, but Youngistan, it seems, is not a happy place right now. The Hindustan Times - MaRS Youth Survey 2012 reveals that 62% youngsters in Indias cities consider themselves happy, a significant drop from last years 74%. The survey, conducted among 7021 urban youngsters in 15 cities, tried to explore the state of mind of todays youth. Youth in Jaipur, Bengaluru, Kochi and Chandigarh turned out to be the shiny, happy people, registering happiness much above the national average. But those in Indore, Bhopal, Patna and Hyderabad had a case of the blues, with well over a quarter respondents describing themselves as unhappy. A slew of scams, a sluggish economy and a gloomy job scenario are the possible factors that may have sullied the smile of young Indians. But there is another factor you.Your thoughts have the power to make you happy or sad. Your choices and priorities can determine your state of mind, says Sameer Malhotra, head psychologist, Fortis Hospital, New Delhi. So, what factors aid and abet youngsters in their pursuit of happiness? Advertisements may insist har ek friend zaroori hota hai, but despite the generation gap and ideological tussles, 42% respondents felt that their parents

are their chief source of joy, ranking friends only second. Actor Minissha Lamba says that this is a sweet sentiment. I believe this can happen only in India where we still value our family bonds, she says. A minority (8.1%) felt that moolah makes their world go round young India maybe be aspirational, but not necessarily money-minded. And what about personal relationships? Girlfriends and boyfriends gave just 5.3% youngsters a reason to smile. But life is not sunny side up for these youngsters, with all sorts of warts and worries giving them sleepless nights. Not surprisingly, be it BPO employees or newbie managers, work made only a measly 5.5% youngsters happy. After all, who doesnt complain about work, right? But in a times-are-a-changing twist, more full-time employed females were happy than their male counterparts. Jobs are the biggest headache, making three in four youngsters chew their fingernails in anxiety. Success, the natural ally of jobs, worries 66% youngsters. Waiting for companies to come for recruitment was scary. Even those people who landed a job were jittery and uncertain, says Aditi Saxena, 22, an recent economics graduate. In the age of male fairness creams and anti-aging treatments featuring models barely out of their teens,looks, also unsurprisingly, worry two in three youngsters. A slightly higher proportion of young women (69%) fret over their looks than young men (61%). Interestingly, while 19% women said
GRAPHICS: MUKESH SAH

that they do not care about being stylish, only 14% men agreed, proving that the metrosexual, preening-and-grooming man is here to stay. Good news, ladies. But Lamba isnt too happy about this trend. Media and the consumer goods industry puts too much pressure on looking good, making people feel that it is the most important thing. One needs to be strong to not get bogged down by such pressure, she said. Being physically fit is important, but spending too much time in front of the mirror finding faults is unhealthy. If you keep struggling to achieve an ideal but are never content with the way you look, it can lead to body image issues, cautions Malhotra. Formula One race driver and youth icon Narain Karthikeyan also feels that looks should not be an obsession. You are what you are. I feel there are more important things to concentrate on. Finding that elusive thing, love, worries 47.4% of Indias young, and the worry is more underlined among the younger respondents in the 18-21 age group. Perhaps the older ones have already found their valentine. And finally, more than half of the participants said that they couldnt care less about what others think of them. Devil-may-care rebels? Individualists, say both Lamba and Karthikeyan. Its not rebellion. Its just that they know exactly what they want, said the fastest Indian in the world. (With inputs from Navdeep Kaur Marwah and Vinayak Pande)

HOW HAPPY ARE YOU? 61.5%

Very happy
74.6%*

HOW WORRIED ARE YOU ABOUT YOUR FUTURE? 44.1%

Somewhat
44.8%*

56.3%

Moderately Stylish

57.0%
Very Stylish

57.6%

HOW STYLISH WOULD YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF?

26.5%

29.6% 14.1%

26.5%
Don't Particularly Care About Style

23.4%

M: 42.1% M: 61.3%
73.6%*

45.4%*

F: 46.2%

16.5%

19.0%

of the respondents consider themselves very stylish across all cities, with the highest in Jaipur (48.5%), 42.2% in Chandigarh and 39.5% in Lucknow Only 16.5% overall do not care particularly about being stylish, with 35.7% in Chandigarh, 31.3% in Chennai and 23.1% youth in Kochi

F: 61.8%
75.7%*

39.5%

A lot

44.2%*

DO YOU WORRY ABOUT

Getting a job

WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY?

Achieving success
M: 63.8%; F: 68.1%

40.3%*

Neither happy nor unhappy

25.3%

20.7%

75.0% 25.0%

Yes

Yes

M: 74.2%; F: 75.8% M: 25.8%; F: 24.2%

66.0% 34.0%

Parents

42.4% 32.0%
5.3%*

49.8%*

M: 41.3% 46.1%* F: 43.6% 53.7%*

24.5%*

No

No

M: 36.2%; F: 31.9%

Friends

M: 39.6%
39.6%*

F: 39.3%
41.1%*

Finding love

47.4% 52.6%

Yes No Yes No

M: 24.9%
20.8%*

F: 25.7%
20.6%*

13.2%

Unhappy
4.7%

16.4%

Not at all
14.9%*

M: 47.4%; F: 47.5% M 52.6%; F: 52.5%

What people think about you

M: 30.2% 25.7%* F: 33.8% 23.2%*

M: 46.2%; F: 48.3%

47.3% 52.7%

Work

M: 6.5% 5.4%* F: 4.6% 5.3%*

5.5%

65.0%
M: 18.4% M:13.8%
5.6%*
90%

How you look Yes No

M: 53.8%; F: 51.7%

Girl/Boyfriend

M: 6.2% 4.4%* F: 4.4% 3.1%*

Jobs

5.3%
7.8%*

3.7%*

Cant Say

M: 60.6%; F: 69.3% F: 14.5%

14.7%*

35.0%

M: 39.4%; F:30.7%

F:12.5%
3.7%*

15.0%*

in Jaipur described themselves as very happy, followed by 82% in Bengaluru and 74.9% in Chandigarh Indore (32.7%) has the unhappiest youth, followed by Hyderabad at 32.4%

Delhi tops the city list with 52.2% worried a lot about their future, followed by Guwahati (51.5%) and Mumbai (46%). Indore youth are the least worried (33.2%) followed by Lucknow (28.5%) and Chennai and Chandigarh at 27.6% each

are the cause of maximum worry for 92.9% of Hyderabad respondents, followed by Jaipur (92.5%) 93.9% of Hyderabads youth worry about how they look, followed by Jaipur (86%) and Ahmedabad (83.5%) Worry for success is the highest in Ahmedabad (84%)

Money

8.1% 6.7%

1.0%
Money

M: 1.0%; F: 1.0%
makes 23.3% of Delhis youth happy, followed by Mumbai (10.4%), Guwahati (7.5%) and Chennai (7.3%) Friends are the second biggest cause of happiness, with 58% in Ahmedabad saying so, followed by 55.4% in Hyderabad and 48.7% in Kochi

M: 9.2% 9.6%* F: 7.0% 6.0%*

* 2011 Survey figures

College

7.8%*

M: 6.7% 7.8%* F: 6.6% 7.8%*

H I N D U STA N T I M E S , M U M B A I F R I DAY, F E B R U A RY 1 0 , 2 0 1 2

metro special | 09
Given the recent crackdown on Facebook, Google and Twitter for 'offensive' material - are we losing our sense of humour? To join this discussion, log onto: www.hindustantimes.com/youthsurvey2012

Sample size:

Career and Money

Age 18-21 Years

WEB BUZZ

3547

Age 21-25 Years

3474

Male

3506
Employed

Female

3515
Cities

Tune in to Fever 104 FM for additional coverage of the HT Youth Survey

Full-time students

3792

Student but part time employed

Youth and Society

What do todays youth want to be? Check out our Youth Survey videos on: www. hindustantimes.com/youthsurvey2012

TOMORROW

1575

1654

15

major towns in India Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Chandigarh in the North; Kolkata, Patna, Guwahati in the East; Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhopal and Indore in the West; and Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi in the South. Target respondents were both male and female from age group 18-25 years. The respondents were either currently undergraduate students (or above) or employed with graduate education (or above). Respondents were selected at the household level. Disclaimer: The survey data is a copyright of HT Media Limited and MaRS Pvt Ltd. Any use of this survey data would lead to infringement of the copyright and may result in legal action against the infringer.

Survey conducted by MaRS Methodology: Youth Survey 2012 was carried out by MaRS Monitoring and Research Systems among 7021 urban youngsters in 15 state capitals and

BEYOND SALARY Dump tradition, its time to think differently

Gautam Chikermane

Creativity, not cash

f youre in B-school and planning to walk into the arms of a highlypaid, low-risk career, brace up. The road to a predictable, easy-money, designation-spewing corner cabin is getting steeper. Salary, that sweet starting point every graduate yearns for, is getting harder to decipher and will lag expectations. Leave alone job security, even career stickiness is fast becoming a relic. The only rule for tomorrows worker: there are no rules. And if you think this fantasy scenario belongs to the future, it is a future that has already happened. Compare job seekers with existing workers and the one difference, as the Hindustan TimesMaRS Youth Survey 2012, shows is a growing existential disconnect between the two. While the most important factor when choosing a job remains salary, the divide between job seekers and existing workers is noticeable (37% of the former see salary as important compared to 29% among existing workers.) In an age where you, for all practical purposes, design your own designation, this relic is falling by the wayside. Whats becoming increasingly important is something that schools and colleges have forgotten to nurture, parents and teachers have crushed, students and apprentices have smothered to belong that crazy thing called creativity, passion, drive, and a spark that lights up an integral life. Again, this is something existing workers, who are experiencing the change, have understood marginally better than aspirants to the shifting labour market: while 7.1% of workers feel this is

gautam.chikermane@hindustantimes.com

VOX POP: RANDOM VOICES OF THE YOUTH ACROSS THE NATION

PARIKSHITH SAMBASIVAN,
23 YEARS, PR Executive, Mumbai

SACHIT SWAROOP,
21 YEARS, engineering student, Delhi

MONTHLY EXPENDITURE: I'm very careful. I have an excel sheet of my expenses. GOAL IN LIFE: My personal relationships matter more than making money quickly. CHOICE OF CAREER DEPENDS ON: I want a job where I interact constantly with people. IDEAL WORKPLACE: Abroad.

MONTHLY EXPENDITURE: Well, lets just say I manage to save a little bit of my allowance. GOAL IN LIFE: To be rich enough. CHOICE OF CAREER DEPENDS ON: Salary, company profile and designation. IDEAL WORKPLACE: MNC. Government pays you way less!

the most important factor while choosing a job, the number for aspirants is 4.7%. Curiously, seven out of 10 people want to serve the government, that risk-free, relatively low-salaried job. But how do you work creativity into this? By looking at the opportunity break-up. In cities where economic development and the accompanying opportunities are wanting, the percentage of government jobseekers is high nine out of 10 in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Guwahati and Jaipur. This skew falls slowly and lying at the other end of the spectrum is the super entrepreneurial Ahmedabad, where fewer than two out of 10 want a government job; and the corporate entrepreneurial Mumbai, where less than half seek that safety. Interestingly, less than one in three want to be entrepreneurs in Indias commercial capital, while in the national capital, the fraction is two in three. While government jobs may be hot on the youth agenda, politics is not. Less then a third of those polled wanted to lead the country. Step back from the traditional traps and the picture gets more humane. While 30% of Indias youth ticked being rich as their most important life goal, 44% opted for that fuzzy thing called happiness. Here, we find a gender bender that bows before women. 38% of males said happiness was crucial; the number for females was 50%. The surprises came from Guwahati, where 63% people sought happiness and Indore, where 67% pursued money. The survey results perhaps display the growing pangs and accompanying contradictions of a complex nation, currently under economic and social recon-

struction an economic growth that at 7% is considered slow; a massive migration to the cities; a pressure towards individuality as the currency of familial warmth gives way to the refuge of consumerism. All of which is pushing isolated young people towards the stability of money. Except that it is a mirage. One of the perks that a growing economy offers is the opportunity to do what you love, the money usually follows. Over the next four decades, you will change three to five careers as knowledge drives work to frontiers that today we dont think exist. You will probably deliver profits for a company as a physicist, work for an NGO to save the planet. If youre adventurous enough, you could be in upcoming careers like genetic counselling or sky-farming. In fact, even routine jobs will become knowledge intensive where your supervisor will merely be a coordinator there will be a transfer of authority and swagger towards you. Welcome to that delicious future.

WHAT IS THE MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR WHILE CHOOSING A CAREER OR A JOB?

Company profile
???

ILLUSTRATION: RAHUL

GRAPHICS: MUKESH SAH

Job Title

Job security

Salary career by 54.3% in Chandigarh, fol-

important factor while choosing a

Salary was cited as the most

Others

15.7%
13.4%*

lowed by Guwahati (49%), Patna (48.5%) and Bhopal (47.5%) Job security is more important than salary for the youth in Kolkata, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Lucknow, Ahmedabad and Kochi Parents wishes are accorded the highest priority by youth in Delhi (20.8%) followed by Mumbai (18.7%) and Ahmedabad (12.5%)

WOULD YOU LIKE TO 26.8% M: 28.3%; F: 25.2%

M: 69.7%; F: 73.1%

Work for the government

Work for an MNC Yes No

63.7% 33.6%

71.4%

M: 62.2%; F: 65.2% M: 34.7%; F: 32.5% Cant Say 2.7% M: 3.0%; F: 2.3%

Cant Say 1.9% M: 1.9%; F: 1.8%

10.8% 12.6%*
M: 12.2% 12.2%* F: 9.3% 12.9%*

16.9%

14.1%*

M: 16.9% 15.1%* F: 16.9% 13.1%*

23.7%

18.0%*

M: 21.0% 16.9%* F: 26.3% 19.1%*

33.0%

41.6%*

Work for a Work social welfare Overseas organisation

M: 35.9% 42.2%* F: 30.0% 41.0%* M: 49.8%; F: 46.7%

DO YOU LIVE WITHIN YOUR MEANS? 14.6%

Spend More Than Income/ Allowance
21.4%*

48.3%

WHAT DO YOU SPEND YOUR MONEY ON?

all

figures in rupees

M: 48.2%; F: 50.2% Cant Say 2.5% M: 1.9%; F: 3.0%

49.2%

45.9%48.5% M: 43.3%; F: 51.2%48.7% M: 53.8%; F:

Cant Say 2.9% M: 2.9%; F: 2.8%

M: 17.0%, 21.5%* F: 12.3% 21.4%*

Be an entrepreneur

M: 25.5% 21.2% F: 27.7% 19.2% M: 593 F: 547 M: 336 F: 328 M: 279 F: 358 M: 266 F: 249 M: 389 F: 350 M: 421 F: 382 M: 404 F: 282 M: 355 F: 280 M: 256 F: 229

26.6%

Spend As Much As Income/ Allowance

20.2%*

Join politics

M: 41.2%; F: 42.6% M: 57.1%; F: 55.9% M 257 F 224

41.9% 56.5%

28.9%
M: 30.7%; F: 27.0% M: 66.8%; F: 70.7%

68.7%
Cant Say 2.4% M: 2.5%; F: 2.3%
* 2011 Survey figures

Save Some Money

58.8%

53.7%*

569

407

381

353

332

318

291

258

242

241

Cant Say 1.6% M: 1.7%; F: 1.5%

M: 57.5% 53.0%* F: 60.0% 54.5%*

Personal grooming Phone bill Clothes Cigarettes Girlfriend/ Boyfriend Fast food Coffee shops Sports (gym) Liquor Movie

Youth

in Hyderabad save the most with 72.5% reporting so, followed by Guwahati (71%), Kolkata (68.5%) and Bhopal (67.5%) Males in all cities spend more than their income/allowance except for Bhopal and Bengaluru, where females spend more than they earn

92.9% in Hyderabad would like to work for the government, followed by 92% in Kolkata, 90.5% in Guwahati and 89.5% in Jaipur Lucknow tops the cities where youth wish to work for a social welfare organisation, with 70% saying so, followed by Kolkata (63.9%) and Guwahati (61.5%) Hyderabad tops the surveyed cities for those who wish to work for an MNC

H I N D U STA N T I M E S , M U M B A I S AT U R DAY, F E B R U A RY 1 1 , 2 0 1 2

nation | 11

Sample size:

Youth and Society

Age 18-21 Years

3547

Age 21-25 Years

February is election month across Punjab, UP etc. What are the most important issues according to the youth in these states? To join this discussion and more,log onto: www.hindustantimes.com/youthsurvey2012

WEB BUZZ

3474

Male

3506
Employed

Female

3515
Cities

Tune in to Fever 104 FM for additional coverage of the HT Youth Survey

For complete coverage of all Youth Survey topics: Corruption, Habits and Consumption, Role Models, State of Mind, Career and Money and Youth and Society, log on to: www. hindustantimes.com/youthsurvey2012

Full-time students

3792

Student but part time employed

1575

1654

15

major towns in India Delhi, Lucknow, Jaipur, and Chandigarh in the North; Kolkata, Patna, Guwahati in the East; Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Bhopal and Indore in the West; and Chennai, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Kochi in the South. Target respondents were both male and female from age group 18-25 years. The respondents were either currently undergraduate students (or above) or employed with graduate education (or above). Respondents were selected at the household level. Disclaimer: The survey data is a copyright of HT Media Limited and MaRS Pvt Ltd. Any use of this survey data would lead to infringement of the copyright and may result in legal action against the infringer.

Survey conducted by MaRS Methodology: Youth Survey 2012 was carried out by MaRS Monitoring and Research Systems among 7021 urban youngsters in 15 state capitals and

SHAKE UP Corruption and bad governance must go, says young India
ILLUSTRATION: RAHUL

Apolitical, but not apathetic

GRAPHICS: MUKESH SAH

DID YOU VOTE IN THE LAST ELECTION? 58.1%

Yes
55.1%* Overall, 58.1%

M: 60.1% 59%* F: 56.2% 51%*

41.9%

No
44.9%*

M: 39.9% 41% * F: 43.8% 49%*

of respondents reported voting in the last elections. The highest shares citywise were in Hyderabad, Lucknow, Kolkata and Bhopal, with well over over 60% saying they voted. The highest numbers of those not voting came from Bengaluru, Ahmedabad and Indore.

INDIAS BIGGEST CHALLENGE IS...

Corruption
22.9%*

29.1%

19.1%

Global warming
14%*

Cross-border terror

18.5%

22.8%*

Population Explosion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15.6% 11.1%* Poor education system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1% 10.7%* Poverty . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12.8% 10.2%* Cost of living . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.2% 4.3%*
83.5% respondents from Bengaluru think that corruption is Indias biggest challenge, followed by 82.5% in Patna.

Lack of infrastructure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1% 1.7%* Poor health system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1% 1.2%* Lack of entrepreneurial spirit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4% 0.7%*
Global warming was the second biggest challenge, with 70% respondents from Bengaluru saying so, followed by Chandigarh (47.2%) and Ahmedabad (45%).

Sanchita Sharma

sanchitasharma@hindustantimes.com

ho rocks the votes in India? Everyone but urban youth, insist psephologists, and for a change, they seem to have got it right. Clean governance tops young Indias political mindspace, but thats where the notion stays: in their heads. Young India wants corruption and divisive politics to go, but their concern is not translating into votes. Countrywide, almost one in three (29.1%) surveyed put corruption as Indias biggest challenge, with 83.5% respondents in Bengaluru outraged at the way scams, big and small, have taken over governance and polity. Yet only 26.8% of Bengaluru youth voted in the last election, an astoundingly small number compared to 96.6% youth in Hyderabad, for whom crossborder terror was the biggest concern, with corruption polling only 5.4% votes. Disenchantment apart, lakhs of young people are left out of the electoral process because they are not registered as voters. This year, nearly 3.83 crore new voters were registered, of which 1.11 crore had turned 18-19 on January 1, 2012, said SY Qureshi, chief election commissioner of India. Its the biggest empowerment of youth on a single day anywhere in the world. With 70% of the countrys pop-

ulation under 35 years, they must use their voting power to get the government they want, added Qureshi, who started National Voters Day last year to bring the youth in the electoral process. Last year, 52 lakh 18-and-19 year-olds enrolled in January. The number of young people who voted in the last elections both at state and municipal levels went up marginally from 55.1% in 2011 to 58.1% in 2012, against the national average of 59.7% in the 2009 general elections. Overall, men were more politically participative, with 60.1% voting as compared to 56.2% women. Almost 40% women described themselves as apolitical, compared to 28.9% men, but more men said their politics was secular (36%) compared to women (22.2%). Cynicism still keeps urban youth away as there is huge disgust against the failure to deliver. The newfound fervour to fight corruption must lead to voting. I tell them, If you dont vote, then shut the f**k up, says adman Prahlad Kakkar, who organises campaigns on politics and voting across colleges in the country. Unlike in France and the US the two major democracies going to polls this year where a stable economy and jobs, followed by terrorism and national security, are the primary concerns among two in three young voters, young Indias greatest worries after

corruption were global warming (19.1%) and cross-border terrorism (18.5%). Spiralling population and poor education delivery were the other leading concerns in 2012. Compounding the disconnect is the grey cabinet. Whats the point of voting for people who dont even speak the same language, says Madhulika Brar, 21, a third-year commerce student at Delhi University. They worry about caste and communal votebanks, when what people want are jobs, schools and hospitals, she adds. More than 50% of Indias population is under 25 years and if you raise the bar to 35, 70% of the countrys inhabitants are covered, shows Census 2010 data. This makes India home to the worlds largest youth population. Yet, at 79, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is one of the worlds oldest heads of state, with a cabinet, on an average, twice as old as the countrys median age. SM Krishna is the oldest minister at 79 going on 80, while the youngest, Agatha Sangma, will turn 32 in July. If the government wants youth connect, they should get a young Member of Parliament to tweet on issues of employment, jobs, governance and corruption from the PMO account. That, and not the current mind-numbing tweets, will get Singh trending and make governance a talking point among the young, says Kakkar.

THE WORLDS BIGGEST CHALLENGES ARE...

Poverty and Hunger

YOUR POLITICAL VIEWS ARE...

Not Mentioned

9.5%
Others

0.4%*

Apolitical

34.1 %

20.4%*

30.0%

M: 28.9% 19.7%* F: 39.3% 21.1%*

30.3%*

10.1% 12.7%

M: 9.3%, 9.5%* F: 10.8%, 7.6%*

8.6%*

Unemployment
M: 12.7%, 4.6%* F: 12.3%, 4.5%*

M: 11.6%, 7.9%* F: 13.8%, 7.9%*

7.9%*

Illiteracy

12.5%

4.5%*

Secular

29.1%

40.0%*

Economic Instability
M: 12.2%, 4.5%* F: 14.4%, 5.1%*

M: 36.0% 41.2%* F: 22.2% 38.7%*

Global Warming

24.0%
M: 7.0%; F: 6.1 %
M: 2.7%*; F: 3.6 %*

M: 27.7%, 33.9%* F: 20.4%, 36.0%*

34.9%*

13.3%
Terrorism

4.8%*

Conservative

25.1%
26.0%*

29.2%*

OTHERS: HIV/AIDS: 6.6% 3.1%* Religious Fundamentalism: 6.2% 3.1%*

M: 6.0%; F: 6.5%
M: 2.9%*; F: 3.3 %*

M: 30.7%, 26.5%* F: 29.1%, 25.5%*

M: 23.4% 28.4%* F: 26.9% 30.1%*

29.9%
Terrorism

VOX POP: RANDOM VOICES OF THE YOUTH FROM ACROSS THE NATION
ANKUSH CHOPRA
PR executive, Chandigarh 25 YEARS, Graduate, LSR College, Delhi

PRERNA JOSHI 21 YEARS

First World-Third World Divide: 6.1%

4.15*, M: 6.0%; F: 6.2% M: 4.2%*; F: 3.9 %*

VOTED IN THE LAST ELECTION? Yes, its the only way to elect the right person. POLITICAL VIEWS: Secular. Nationbuilding is important, not religion. INDIAS CHALLENGE: Poor education system. GLOBAL CHALLENGE: Water resources which are on the verge of exhaustion.

VOTED IN THE LAST ELECTION? No, my voters ID wasnt ready in time. POLITICAL VIEWS: Apolitical. Politics is messed up and I dont care anymore. INDIAS CHALLENGE: Corruption, its the cause of all other problems. GLOBAL CHALLENGE: Illiteracy. Education makes us aware of our rights.

Racism: 6.0% 1.0%*

M: 5.5%; F: 6.5%
M: 0.9%*; F: 1.0 %*

is the biggest challenge facing the world. 83.3% of Bengalurus youth think so, followed by Indore (54.5%) and Mumbai (40.7%) The highest support for global warming, the second biggest challenge, also came from Bengaluru (84%), followed by Ahmedabad (57%) and Bhopal (31.5%).

Left Wing

10.3%
51.7%

8.0%*

M: 10.0% 8.4%* F: 10.7% 7.5%*

respondents in Delhi, 50.5% in Bhopal and 43.7% in Chandigarh said their political views are Hindutva driven. 55.1% youth in Hyderabad, 43.2% in Chandigarh and 39% in Patna describe their views as secular.

M: 2.7%; F: 2.7%
M: 0.9%*; F: 0.5 %*

Oil crisis: 2.7% 0.7*

* 2011 Survey figures

M: 2.8%; F: 2.0%
M: 0.9%*; F: 0.5 %*

Depleted water reserves: 2.4% 0.7*