Revolutionary youth to policy partners: Why Gen Z voices matter now

Authored by - Sriparna Pathak, executive director, Centre for Northeast Asian Studies, Jindal School of International Affairs, OP Jindal Global University.

In political science and development theory, the concept of intergenerational equity underscores that sustainable governance requires the active inclusion of those who will inherit the consequences of today’s decisions. Scholars from John Rawls’s veil of ignorance to contemporary work on future-oriented institutions argue that societies thrive when decision-making incorporates the lived realities, technological fluency, and long-term stakes of younger cohorts. Generation Z, roughly those born between the mid-1990s and early 2010s, embodies this principle with particular urgency. Their perspectives are not merely additive; they are essential for crafting policies that remain relevant in a rapidly changing world of climate shifts, digital transformation, and demographic youth bulges.

Gen Z (HT File)

History offers powerful evidence that young people under 30 have repeatedly driven transformative change. India’s freedom struggle stands as a luminous example. Bhagat Singh was only 23 when he was hanged in 1931, yet his writings, organisational work with the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association, and fearless symbolism galvanised a generation and shaped the moral imagination of the independence movement. Khudiram Bose faced the gallows at 18. Chandrashekhar Azad, Ram Prasad Bismil, Ashfaqulla Khan, and many others in the Kakori Conspiracy and related revolutionary efforts were in their twenties or younger when they organised, wrote, and sacrificed. These young Indians expanded the horizon of what was politically possible through energy, idealism, and organisational capacity.

This pattern continues today. Gen Z Indians are already delivering excellence on global stages and contributing to national capabilities. In sports, Manu Bhaker, born in 2002, became the first Indian woman shooter to win an Olympic medal and the first Indian athlete of independent India to secure two medals at a single Games, claiming bronze in the women’s 10m air pistol and mixed team events at Paris 2024. Neeraj Chopra, still in his late twenties, remains a trailblazer as India’s first Olympic athletics gold medallist and a world champion in javelin. Younger talents continue the momentum: at the 2025 Asian Youth Games, India’s contingent returned with a best-ever haul of 48 medals, including multiple golds in wrestling, boxing, kabaddi, and weightlifting. Emerging athletes such as Suruchi Phogat in shooting, Tanvi Sharma in badminton, and record-breaking sprinters and throwers have rewritten national marks and reached world junior finals. Parallel to this sporting surge, young innovators and startups, supported through initiatives like iDEX, are advancing indigenous defence technologies in drones, AI systems, electronics, and autonomous platforms, strengthening self-reliance and contributing prototypes that move from concept toward procurement.

Concrete examples already show constructive impact. In Malaysia, the Undi18 movement, driven by young advocates, secured a unanimous constitutional amendment lowering the voting age from 21 to 18, enfranchising millions. In the United States, Nalleli Cobo’s sustained campaign as a young activist helped shut down a toxic urban oil site and contributed to broader bans on new drilling near communities. Globally, youth climate advocacy has accelerated net-zero commitments. In India, platforms such as Youth Ki Awaaz have partnered with the National Institute of Urban Affairs to develop the Adolescents for Climate Transformation framework; in Indore, adolescent input is informing city-level measures on waste, water, and heat stress.

Policymakers can involve Gen Z systematically and productively. Permanent youth advisory councils at national, state, and municipal levels, empowered to review legislation on climate, digital rights, education, sports infrastructure, and defence innovation, provide structured channels. Co-design workshops, digital consultation platforms, and fellowships allow young people to contribute data, prototypes, and lived insights directly into policy cycles. Partnerships with youth-led sports academies, startup ecosystems under iDEX-style programmes, and civic platforms turn demonstrated excellence into actionable recommendations. Participatory budgeting and open innovation challenges further invite constructive ideas. These mechanisms treat Gen Z not as a constituency to manage but as partners whose energy and foresight strengthen institutional resilience.

India’s demographic dividend, with a large share of the population under 30, makes this partnership especially promising. Just as young freedom fighters once expanded the nation’s political imagination, today’s Gen Z, whether winning Olympic medals, rewriting athletic records, or building defence technologies, offers tools and perspectives suited to contemporary challenges. By institutionalising their involvement, policymakers can design more adaptive, equitable, and future-ready governance. The result is continuity of a proud historical tradition: young people helping societies move forward with greater wisdom and shared ownership. Inclusive processes that value Gen Z insights will yield policies better equipped to serve both present needs and the long horizon of generations yet to come.

(The views expressed are personal)

This article is authored by Sriparna Pathak, executive director, Centre for Northeast Asian Studies, Jindal School of International Affairs, OP Jindal Global University.