YUVA: Prime Minister’s Scheme For Mentoring Young Authors

Under the dynamic leadership of Hon’ble PM Shri Narendra Modi, the National Education Policy 2020 emphasises on empowering young minds & creating a learning ecosystem that can nurture young learners for future leadership roles. 

To foster this goal, and commemorate India’s 75 years of Independence, a national scheme YUVA: Prime Minister’s Scheme For Mentoring Young Authors will go a long way in cementing the foundation of these leaders of tomorrow.  

For a country like India, which tops the world chart in the youth population, we have a lot of potential ready to be tapped into and utilized for capacity and nation-building. This demographic advantage offers India and its economy an unprecedented edge. With this express intent of mentoring a new generation of young creative writers, there is an imminent requirement to take initiatives at the highest level, under the visionary national level flagship programme of Ek Bharat Shreshtha Bharat.

Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors’ (YUVA) Scheme

• The YUVA scheme is basically a mentorship program to train young authors. It is aimed at mentoring 75 writers under the age of 30.

• It targets young authors who are ready to express themselves and portray Indian culture and literature in a global arena. Under the scheme, each author will get a consolidated scholarship of Rs 50,000 per month for a period of six months.

• The idea behind this program is to push reading and authorship as a profession on par with other professions. Another motive behind the initiative is to provide a positive psychological push to young minds in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.

• The scheme envisions cultivating modern ambassadors of Indian literature as the country heads towards 75 years of independence. The scheme is expected to generate a stream of writers who would be able to write on a variety of topics promoting Indian heritage, culture and knowledge.

• This will also give a window to aspiring writers to express themselves in their mother tongues and represent their country at the international level. The scheme will cover various genres such as fiction, non-fiction, drama, poetry, memoirs, travelogues and so on.

YUVA Mentoring Scheme Implemented by

The YUVA Scheme is implemented and executed by the National Book Trust (NBT) under the Ministry of Education, Government of India.

National Book Trust (NBT)

• The NBT is an apex body established by the GOI under the Department of Higher Education in 1957.

• The objectives of the NBT are to produce and encourage the production of good literature in English, Hindi and other Indian languages and to make such literature available at moderate prices to the public.

• It also aims to bring out book catalogues, arrange book fairs/exhibitions and seminars and take all necessary steps to make the people book minded.

• The NBT organizes the annual New Delhi World Book Fair, which is the largest book event in the Afro-Asian region.

It is mandate to publish:

• India’s classical literature
• Works of Indian authors in Indian languages and their translations into other Indian languages
• Translation of foreign works into Indian languages
• Books of modern knowledge for popular diffusion

• It also engages in other activities such as the promotion of reading and books, conducting mobile book exhibitions, promotion of children’s literature, promotion of Indian books overseas, providing assistance for translations, and assisting authors and publishers, among others.

YUVA Scheme for Young Authors How to Apply

The application and selection process for YUVA scheme is given under this section.

• All India Contest at MyGov portal will select 75 authors. (https://innovateindia.mygov.in/yuva/)
• The NBT will constitute a committee which will select the authors based on their submission of a 5000-word manuscript.
• The committee will assess the submission’s suitability to be adapted as a book.
• The contest will run from 4th June to 31st July 2021.
• The selected authors’ names will be announced on 15th August 2021.
• The selected authors will then have to prepare a manuscript for final selection under the guidance of mentors.
• By 15th December 2021, the entries will be ready for publication and could be launched tentatively on the National Youth Day (12 January 2022).

Training & Promotion for Selected Writers

Phase 1 (Training – 3 months)

The National Book Trust will conduct a Two-Week Writers’ Online Programme for the selected writers during which they will be trained or mentored by eminent writers from NBT’s panel.

After this, they will be trained at various online/on-site national camps conducted by the Trust.

Phase 2 (Promotion – 3 months)

The writers will get the opportunity to interact with people in the industry and hone their skills through various literary fests/book fairs/cultural exchange programs, etc.

At the end of the mentorship program, each author will receive Rs.50,000 per month for six months (total Rs.3 lakhs).

NBT will also publish the writer’s book or series of books on which the writers will receive a 10% royalty.

There is also provision for the translation of their books into other languages to promote culture and literature exchange among various Indian states.