Parliaments have a vital duty to listen to youth: Om Birla

1. At a Glance

• Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla opened the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum at the Samvidhan Sadan, New Delhi, on Monday, 26 October 2026. His theme was that Parliaments have a vital responsibility to listen to youth [1].
• The BRICS Parliamentary Forum is the legislative (parliamentary) track of BRICS. It runs alongside the summit-level and ministerial tracks. This is parliamentary diplomacy, which is relevant to India's multilateral engagement under GS-II [1][2].
• India got the chairship of the 12th Forum at the 11th Forum in Brasília (June 2025) [2][3].
• The topic links demographic dividend, youth participation in democracy, and India's push to make BRICS an "ecosystem of solutions" [1][2].

2. Why in the News

• 26 Oct 2026: Om Birla opened the two-day 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum at Samvidhan Sadan, New Delhi [1].
• He said Parliaments must listen to young people and understand their hopes and concerns. He added that youth aspirations must be met with "meaningful opportunities, dignity, and an enabling environment" [1].
• He called Parliaments "vibrant expressions of the people's will" that can act as bridges of understanding, ease international tensions, and support peaceful responses to global challenges [1].
• He cited PM Narendra Modi's idea of turning BRICS into an "ecosystem of solutions". He said the Forum's success should be judged by the depth of its outcomes, not the breadth of its discussions [1].
• PM Modi met the BRICS parliamentary delegations after the inaugural session [1].

3. Background & Evolution

• BRICS Parliamentary Forum: an annual meeting of the legislatures of BRICS member countries. The chair rotates with the host country (general knowledge; founding year not confirmed in retrieved sources).
• 3–5 June 2025: the 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum was held in Brasília, Brazil. Om Birla led the Indian parliamentary delegation [3][5].
• June 2025 (Brasília close): India was entrusted with hosting the 12th Forum, and Om Birla was formally handed the chairmanship [2][4].
• At Brasília 2025, Birla said: "Our greatest strength is our youthful population. Over 65 per cent of Indians are under the age of 35." He also said democracy needs active participation from youth, women and marginalised groups [2][4]. The 2026 New Delhi youth theme builds on this.
• Oct 2026: the 12th Forum was held in New Delhi under India's chairship [1].

4. Core Static Facts

• Samvidhan Sadan: the name given to the old Parliament House building after Parliament moved to the new building in 2023 (general knowledge).
• Who leads India's delegation: the Lok Sabha Speaker, not the Ministry of External Affairs [3].

5. Multi-Dimensional Analysis

Geopolitical / Strategic

• Hosting the 12th Forum makes India a convenor of the expanded BRICS, whose members now include Egypt, UAE and Iran [1].
• Parliaments framed as tools to "ease international tensions" is a soft-power argument at a time of West Asian conflict [1].
• The "ecosystem of solutions" framing puts outcomes ahead of rhetoric. This matches India's Global South positioning [1].

Social (Youth / Demographic Dividend)

• >65% of the population is under 35. That is an asset only if it is matched with opportunity, skills and dignity [2][1].
• Birla noted youth have growing access to quality education and technology and a strong drive to innovate [1].
• He called empowering youth "an investment in their future" and a "commitment to the collective destiny of nations" [1].

Governance / Democratic

• Representative democracy requires legislatures to take in the views of youth, women and marginalised groups [2][4].
• Ways to do this: youth parliaments, committee consultations, and digital petitions (analytical point).
• Legislatures are moving from law-making to deliberative bridge-building, both at home and across borders [1].

Administrative / Institutional

• India's parliamentary diplomacy is led by the Speaker, alongside the executive's diplomatic track [3].
• Holding the Forum at Samvidhan Sadan turns a heritage building into a diplomatic venue [1].

Ethical

• "Dignity" and an "enabling environment" are values-based framings of youth policy, linked to intergenerational justice [1].

6. Recent Developments (last 12–18 months)

• 1 June 2025: Om Birla left for Brazil for the 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum [5].
• 3–5 June 2025: the 11th Forum was held in Brasília with an Indian parliamentary delegation led by the Speaker [3].
• June 2025 (close of the 11th Forum): India was entrusted with the 12th edition, and the chairmanship was handed to Birla [2][4].
• June 2025: the Lok Sabha Secretariat published a brief report on the 11th Forum [4].
• 26 Oct 2026: the 12th Forum opened at Samvidhan Sadan. Birla gave the youth-focused address, and PM Modi met the delegations [1].

7. Prelims Hooks

• The 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum was held in New Delhi in October 2026 [1].
• Venue: Samvidhan Sadan, not the new Parliament building [1].
• Inaugural address: Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla [1].
• The Forum ran for two days [1].
• The 11th BRICS Parliamentary Forum was held in Brasília, Brazil, 3–5 June 2025 [3].
• India got the chairship of the 12th Forum at the Brasília edition [2].
• "Ecosystem of solutions" is PM Modi's description of what BRICS should become [1].
• Birla cited that more than 65% of Indians are under 35 [2].
• Expanded-BRICS members at the Forum included Egypt, UAE and Iran [1].
• India's delegation to the BRICS Parliamentary Forum is led by the Lok Sabha Speaker [3].
• PM Modi met the BRICS parliamentary delegations after the 12th Forum's inaugural session [1].

8. The Young Country, the Older House

• The people Parliament must listen to are much younger than the people sitting in it
• More than 65% of Indians are under 35 [2].
• But the average age of an MP in the 18th Lok Sabha is 56 years. It was 59 in the 17th Lok Sabha [6].

• Only 11% of MPs are 40 years or younger. More than half (52%) are older than 55 [6].

• So 'listening to youth' is needed because youth are rarely inside the House

• If young people made up a fair share of MPs, they could speak for themselves. Because they do not, Parliament has to listen from outside. That is why Birla's theme matters.

• The age gap is shrinking slowly: the average age fell by 3 years between the two Houses [6]. Even so, India stays far from age-balanced representation.

• The law sets a minimum age to contest

• Article 84 of the Constitution says a person must be at least 25 years old to become a Lok Sabha member. The youngest MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha are exactly 25 [6].

• So an 18-year-old can vote but must wait seven more years to stand for election.

• What counts as a 'young MP' worldwide

• The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), the global body of national parliaments, defined a 'young MP' as aged 45 and below until 2024. In 2024 it lowered this to 40 and below [9].
• This is the same cut-off PRS uses, so India's 11% figure can be compared with global data [6][9].
• The UN tracks this number under SDG indicator 16.7.1 (the share of different age groups in public institutions) [9].

9. Why Parliament's Main Listening Channel Is Being Skipped

• Committees are where a Parliament actually listens
• A department-related standing committee (a small group of MPs that studies one ministry's work and bills in detail) can invite written views from citizens, experts and student groups before a law is passed.

• On the floor of the House there is no such step. Only MPs speak.

• Fewer and fewer bills now go to committees

• In the 17th Lok Sabha (2019–24), only 16% of bills were sent to committees. That is lower than in the three Lok Sabhas before it [7].

• PRS figures put the 15th Lok Sabha at about 71% and the 16th at about 27% [7]. PRS sources differ slightly on the 16th Lok Sabha (26% or 27%). The fall is clear either way.

• The House also met less often

• The 17th Lok Sabha held 274 sittings. Only four earlier Lok Sabhas sat fewer times, and all four were dissolved before finishing their five-year term [7].

• Why this matters for the youth theme

• Laws on exams, jobs, digital rules and education mostly affect young people.
• When such a bill skips the committee stage, young people have no formal way to give their view before the law is made.
• So Birla's call to 'listen to youth' runs into a home problem: the main listening tool is used less and less.

10. What Young Indians Are Actually Asking For: Work

• Jobs are the biggest youth concern, and the data shows it
• In 2025, unemployment among youth aged 15–29 was 9.9%, down from 10.3% in 2024. This uses the usual status measure (whether a person was mainly working or looking for work over the past year) [8].

• In cities it is much higher: 13.6% of urban youth were unemployed, against 8.3% in villages [8].

• One in four young people is outside the system altogether

• 25% of people aged 15–29 are NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training). They are not working, not studying, and not in any skills course [8].

• This group does not appear in the unemployment rate if they have stopped looking for work. So the 9.9% figure understates the problem.

• Why this tests the 'demographic dividend'

• A demographic dividend (the economic boost a country gets when most of its people are of working age) comes only if those people find productive work.
• With a quarter of youth NEET, a big part of the young population is not yet adding to growth.
• Birla's words 'meaningful opportunities' and 'dignity' [1] mean, in practice, jobs that young people can live on. Parliament listening to youth should start from this number.

11. Can a Talking Forum Meet Its Own Test of 'Outcomes'?

• Birla set a hard test for the Forum himself
• He said success should be judged by the depth of outcomes, not the breadth of discussion [1].

• But the BRICS Parliamentary Forum makes no binding decisions. Its declarations are not laws in any member country. Each Parliament decides on its own whether to act.

• The members hear youth in very different ways

• The expanded Forum brings together legislatures that work in very different ways — from competitive multi-party Parliaments to systems with far weaker opposition [1].

• A shared statement on 'listening to youth' can therefore mean very different things in each country. This makes it hard to measure whether anything changed.

• What a measurable outcome could look like

• Lok Sabha Secretariat: report back at the 13th Forum on what India did after New Delhi, for example how many youth-related bills went to committees. PRS already tracks referral rates [7], so the baseline exists.
• IPU-style counting: each member Parliament could publish the share of its MPs aged 40 or under, using the IPU's 2024 definition [9]. India's figure is 11% [6]. A shared yardstick lets the Forum see change over time.

12. What India's Parliament Can Do at Home First

• The Speaker can send more bills to committees
• In the Lok Sabha, the Speaker decides whether to refer a bill to a committee.

• Reversing the fall from about 71% (15th Lok Sabha) to 16% (17th Lok Sabha) [7] would reopen the main formal door for young citizens to send their views.

• Committees can seek youth views on youth-heavy bills

• Bills on jobs, exams, education and digital rules affect the 15–29 age group most. That group has 9.9% unemployment and 25% NEET [8].

• Committees examining such bills could invite written submissions from students and young workers, as they already do from experts.

• Political parties control who gets a ticket

• Only 11% of MPs are 40 or under [6]. Parties choose the candidates, so more young MPs depends on parties fielding more young candidates.
• The 25-year minimum age under Article 84 is not the main barrier. Several 25-year-olds already won in 2024 [6].

13. Anchors for Answers

• Data: Average age of MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha is 56 years; only 11% are 40 or younger [6]
• Data: Only 16% of bills were sent to committees in the 17th Lok Sabha, against about 71% in the 15th [7]
• Data: Youth (15–29) unemployment was 9.9% in 2025 (urban 13.6%); 25% of youth are NEET [8]
• Data: India has over 65% of its population under 35 [2]
• Report/Committee: PRS Legislative Research, Functioning of the 17th Lok Sabha (2024) and Profile of the 18th Lok Sabha (2024) [6][7]; PLFS Annual Report 2025, MoSPI [8]
• Law/Case: Article 84 — minimum age of 25 years to become a Lok Sabha member
• Comparison: IPU lowered its 'young MP' definition from 45 to 40 and below in 2024; the UN tracks this under SDG 16.7.1 [9]

14. Mains Relevance

• GS-II: Bilateral, regional and global groupings and agreements involving India; Parliament, its structure and functioning; Mechanisms for the welfare of vulnerable sections (youth).
• GS-I: Population and associated issues (demographic dividend).
• GS-IV (minor): Dignity and intergenerational justice in public policy.
• Possible question stems: 1. "Parliamentary diplomacy is an under-utilised instrument of India's foreign policy." Discuss with reference to India hosting the 12th BRICS Parliamentary Forum. 2. India's demographic dividend can become a demographic burden unless legislatures actively include youth voices. Examine. 3. With expansion, BRICS faces a coherence-versus-relevance dilemma. How can India's "ecosystem of solutions" approach help?

15. Related Topics to Study Next

• BRICS expansion (2024 onwards): explains why Egypt, UAE and Iran now sit at the table.
• India's BRICS Chairship 2026: the executive-track counterpart to the parliamentary forum.
• Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) and the P20 (G20 Parliamentary Speakers' Summit): other parliamentary diplomacy platforms.
• Demographic dividend and National Youth Policy: the policy base of the youth theme.
• Samvidhan Sadan and the new Parliament building (2023): a likely trap on venue.
• Powers and role of the Lok Sabha Speaker (Art. 93–96): the institutional actor behind parliamentary diplomacy.
• New Development Bank (NDB): a BRICS "solution-oriented" institution.

16. NCERT Concepts to Revise

• Demographic dividend (Economy): Birla's youth theme rests on India's young population (over 65% under 35) becoming an asset only with opportunity and skills.
• Speaker of the Lok Sabha (Polity): The Speaker, not the External Affairs Minister, leads India's parliamentary delegation and chairs the Forum, so the office's role is exam material.
• Representative democracy (Polity): Birla's argument that legislatures must hear youth, women and marginalised groups rests on how elected representatives speak for citizens.
• Parliament of India (Polity): The Forum is parliamentary diplomacy, so you need to know Parliament's structure and functions to judge its role beyond law-making.
• Samvidhan Sadan (Polity): The Forum met in the old Parliament building, renamed Samvidhan Sadan in 2023, a likely venue trap in prelims.

17. Common Errors / Trap Areas

• Venue confusion: the Forum was held at Samvidhan Sadan (old building), not the new Parliament building [1].
• Edition confusion: 11th = Brasília, June 2025; 12th = New Delhi, Oct 2026 [1][3].
• Wrong leader: the Forum is led by the Lok Sabha Speaker, not the Vice-President/Rajya Sabha Chairman or the External Affairs Minister [1][3].
• Wrong attribution: "Ecosystem of solutions" is PM Modi's vision, which Birla quoted [1].
• Wrong membership assumption: do not treat the founding five as the full membership. Egypt, UAE and Iran took part as members [1].