Youth growing intolerant due to misguidance: Kailash Satyarthi

Mumbai: Nobel laureate Kailash Satyarthi on Wednesday stressed the need to harness the energy of youths to make the world a better place even as he felt that the new generation is becoming intolerant and violent because they are "confused" and "misguided".

"Whatever they are doing today is because they could either be misguided or they don't have a clear path in their lives. They are confused in the competitive world and they don't see much opportunities. This frustrates them and creates a dislike for the whole system and establishment, eventually making them intolerant and violent," Satyarthi told PTI on the sidelines of an event organised by CII here.

Satyarthi said his NGO has launched a new global campaign against child labour and exploitation. The online and offline campaign is called as "100 million for 100 million" which aims to channelise the energies of the youth to create a better world.

The idea behind the campaign is to get 100 million young people to voice their views and act for another deprived 100 million children by sensitising others about issues relating to child labour, exploitation, sexual abuse and trafficking, through the initiative. "There is a need to harness the anger and energies of the young people for a better world than wasting them in blaming each other. They can be the champions and voices on behalf of the 100 million children who are deprived of their basic rights to education and healthcare," he said.

The international child rights activist further said the government, civil society and the corporates should come together to ensure children are not exploited in any production or supply chain. "Whenever corporates execute their projects they should make sure that no child is deprived of education and healthcare. All the three major stakeholders jointly create a culture of mutual trust and work together towards this common goal," Satyarthi said.