A new policy structure, presented on August 17, 2026, proposes the establishment of a National Entrepreneurship Mission. The goal of this mission is to create one hundred thousand new enterprises and provide 30–36 million direct jobs within five years. Instead of launching a new program, it focuses on integrating existing Indian schemes related to startups, MSMEs, research, training, and lending.
The document, titled 'Building India's Next 10 Lakh Entrepreneurs,' was prepared by Shraddha Sharma, founder and CEO of The Bharat Project and YourStory Media. It comprises twelve sections detailing the operational architecture, a table of responsibilities among ministries and funds under the Mission, and a 15-month plan from cabinet approval to national implementation, along with an evaluation system.
The author asserts that this structure is ready for implementation and does not require significant additional expenditure, as the necessary funds have already been allocated but are distributed unevenly. The diagnosis is that India has developed mechanisms for almost every stage of an entrepreneur's journey, but there are missing links between these stages. For instance, a startup receiving seed funding does not receive a mentor after securing the funds, and a company achieving revenue lacks a clear path to its first major client; all elements exist, but they are not connected.
What the National Entrepreneurship Mission will entail
The proposal is based on six key components. The first is a lifelong Entrepreneur Passport, which will be built upon the existing BHASKAR ID rather than alongside it, and will contain information on achieved milestones, payouts, repayment behavior, revenue, employment, and business closure. The second component is an Entrepreneurship Opportunity Map for each district, which will define the district's products, import capabilities that can be locally manufactured, and types of businesses realistically viable with capital ranging from 1 lakh to 100 million rupees.
The third point is a National Idea Bank, which will be populated with data from these maps for those who wish to create something but do not yet know what. The fourth point mandates the assignment of a mentor as a condition for disbursing funds to any publicly funded enterprise, while a multilingual AI assistant will handle routine consultations and compliance queries, directing complex requests to accredited specialists. The fifth component is structured demand, which involves legislative reservation on the GeM platform instead of recommendations, setting geographical targets for areas outside metropolitan cities, and annually publishing an evaluation system that will assess each central ministry and public sector undertaking based on the target metric of the first client.
The sixth point is verification of results based on GST and EPFO records, rather than self-declared reports. Specific goals are outlined: out of one hundred thousand enterprises, sixty thousand must survive and generate income by the end of the third year, with no less than 60% coming from non-metropolitan areas. Furthermore, one thousand enterprises must receive DPIIT recognition, and the Opportunity Maps must function in all more than 800 districts.
Why arithmetic urgency matters more than mere importance
The Mission is necessary because India needs to create approximately 12 million jobs annually, but only eight to nine million are being generated. The structure argues that government positions and corporate staff cannot cover such a deficit, leaving entrepreneurship as the only channel with sufficient scale to solve this problem.
The figures confirming this urgency are not encouraging. According to the Annual Labour Force Survey, which includes 2025 data, the unemployment rate among individuals aged 15 to 29 is 9.9%, which is approximately three times higher than the rate of 3.1% for all persons aged 15 and above, and 13.6% among urban youth. The 'State of Working India 2026' forecast shows that the 15–29 age cohort will shrink from approximately 367 million in 2026 to 245 million by 2036, meaning the demographic dividend is not being realized but is in the final phase of a cycle.
Despite this, the ecosystem at the highest level is considered world-class. As of March 31, 2026, over 220 thousand startups held DPIIT recognition, supporting 23.36 million direct jobs, with over 55,200 such companies registered in FY26. However, the situation deteriorates sharply below this level. A 2023 study conducted among 165 failed Indian startups showed that 27% of failure reasons were linked to financing, and 25% to sales and marketing—two areas that Indian policy funds treat separately and never combine.
Financial resources are also available. A Research, Development, and Innovation Fund worth 1 lakh crore rupees has begun deployment through the Council for Technological Development and BIRAC, and the Fund of Funds 2.0 came into effect on April 13, 2026, with a corpus of 10,000 crore rupees. Yet, none of these funds track founders across different entities. A deep technology founder might qualify for participation in four of them and know about only one.
How the registry differs from the railway network
A registry provides an identifier, stores a profile, and allows people to find each other. A railway network allows something to move along that identifier—that is, selection criteria, stages, and outcomes—instead of them remaining static. Aadhaar serves as an illustration of this concept. What mattered was not that it listed citizens, but that subsidies, entitlement to benefits, and authentication began moving based on it. BHASKAR, launched by DPIIT in September 2024, issues a unique identifier to every ecosystem participant and, according to the document, had 7.4 lakh registered users by mid-2026. Nevertheless, Startup India's own leadership confirms that DPIIT recognition continues to operate parallel to it. An identity was created, and it became another thing requiring registration.
Thus, the Passport proposal is not a second registry. It indicates that applications for seed funding, recognition, and mentorship read and record data into an already existing identity, which the document describes more as a managerial decision than a technical one. The evaluation will check more complex assertions, including constant operating expenses of about 1.67 lakh rupees per surviving enterprise and a permanent funding source at the district level, which the structure warns will happen unnoticed if not named. But perhaps the least dramatic proposal will prove to be the most significant. Once survivability, revenue, and jobs are verified using GST and EPFO data, any subsequent scheme can be accountable to a specific number that it cannot simply claim for itself.
Amid rising unemployment and the simultaneous development of artificial intelligence, which is shaping the labor market, young people in South Africa are facing serious challenges. The unemployment crisis in South Africa has intensified, raising concerns about the readiness of youth for a labor market increasingly defined by technological changes and AI.
The situation is compounded by the fact that women, whose unemployment rates continue to rise, bear a double burden: they support their families and are forced to prepare the next generation for a workplace that is transforming even before they can enter it.
Nelo P Spice, Executive Director of the youth employment organization JA South Africa, believes that the employment problem goes far beyond simply creating new jobs. She noted that 'it is very depressing and heartbreaking to see that women still bear the main burden of unemployment while supporting families. They need to provide food for young people. They need to care for the elderly.'
According to the Statistics South Africa Quarterly Labour Force Review for the second quarter of 2026, the official unemployment rate increased to 33.6%, up from 32.7% in the first quarter. The number of unemployed rose by 345,000 people to approximately 8.5 million, while employment decreased by 16,000 people to 16.7 million.
Of particular concern is the sustained rise in youth unemployment, which climbed to 43.8% from 43.7% in the previous quarter, affecting five million young people aged 15 to 24. Spice emphasized that the latest data demonstrates the disproportionate impact of unemployment on youth and women.
Recent labor data showed an increase in the labor force by 329,000 people over the quarter, while unemployment rose by 345,000. Frank Blackmore, lead economist at KPMG South Africa, stated that these figures reflect persistent weakness in the labor market. He explained that the growth of the labor force by 329,000 people with a decrease in employment by 16,000 and an increase in the number of unemployed by 345,000 is due to the long-term consequences of low economic growth in South Africa.
Although economists point to sluggish economic growth as the main cause of unemployment, Spice argues that the task goes beyond merely increasing the number of vacancies. She insists that solving youth unemployment must begin much earlier than when a young person enters the labor market, and that more needs to be done than just creating jobs, as South Africa's current education and employment system was designed for a different era.
As artificial intelligence becomes more deeply integrated into global workplaces, there is growing concern about how technology will affect employment opportunities, especially for young workers. Spice views AI as both a challenge and an opportunity. Within JA programs this year, the main focus is on equipping youth with an understanding of AI and using it to drive innovation, as this is the future.
She warned that many entry-level positions, traditionally serving as career stepping stones, are becoming increasingly automated. Spice compared the position of a young person without digital skills today to that of someone without literacy in past generations, noting that AI is already changing the global labor market by automating administrative, auxiliary, and routine tasks.
In her view, future employability will depend less on rote knowledge and more on creativity, adaptability, digital skills, collaboration, and entrepreneurial thinking. Youth must be developed to be capable of seizing opportunities, solving problems, and creating something new.
A serious issue remains the low interest among young women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects, which experts believe could exacerbate future employment inequality. Spice insists on the need for targeted measures to encourage young women to study and work in STEM fields, emphasizing that they must be shown that STEM is an achievable field.
This concern is particularly relevant as businesses increasingly seek employees with technical and digital skills to support the implementation of technologies and innovations. Economists also caution that while AI may boost productivity in the long run, it is unlikely to quickly solve the unemployment crisis in South Africa.
Dr. Lerato Ntuli, an economist at Anchor Capital, recently noted that the unemployment problem in South Africa is largely structural, caused by infrastructure limitations, weak investment, and slow economic growth. She believes that AI is unlikely to have a significant impact on reducing unemployment in the near term, but the technology could improve competitiveness and productivity in the long run, provided there are investments in energy, digital infrastructure, and skills development.
JA South Africa runs entrepreneurship and financial literacy programs in schools and communities across all nine provinces to introduce youth to business skills and innovation from an early age. Spice believes that entrepreneurship education can play a vital role in adapting youth to the changing economy.
Instead of focusing solely on job searching, she advocates for encouraging young people to identify opportunities, solve problems, and create value in their communities. Given that youth unemployment remains around 44% and economic growth is expected to be weak, preparing youth for the future world of work has become extremely urgent.
When youth take to the streets, the wind of change arrives. A recent protest in Jantar Mantar was a vivid example where young people defended their demands, forcing the government to make concessions. However, this protest sparked a new discussion, forming a certain perception of Gen-Z. Some start calling Gen-Z rude, impatient, and rebellious, while others praise their ability to question authority. Nevertheless, both these views are incomplete, as history shows that society often fails to properly understand its new generation. The author believes we are making the same mistake regarding Gen-Z.
According to UNICEF India data, the youth population in the country aged 15 to 29 is about 37.5 billion people, making it the largest youth population in the world. By the end of this decade, Gen-Z and millennials together will constitute almost half of the country's population. This generation will define the direction of India's workforce, innovation, and electoral politics in the coming years, so understanding this group is equivalent to understanding the future of India.
Mohan Bhagwat, head of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, also stated that 'if Gen-Z protests, they are not anti-nationalists. They are our next generation. They must understand us, and we must understand them.'
First and foremost, we need to stop viewing this generation through the lens of old perceptions. The biggest mistake is assuming that what is displayed on social media represents the entire generation. Gen-Z is the first generation in India to have grown up entirely in a digital environment. While millennials witnessed the emergence of the internet, for Gen-Z, smartphones, digital payments, artificial intelligence (AI), and social media are an ordinary part of life, not a luxury.
The research organization PRICE (People Research on India's Consumer Economy) published a study this February, according to which 44 percent of Gen-Z first learned about a product through Instagram, while about 80 percent of young people compare different options before making a decision. Online reviews, the internet, friends' advice, and now AI play an important role in their decisions. The way this young generation obtains information differs from previous generations: if older generations relied on newspapers and television, Gen-Z draws information from YouTube, Instagram, X (formerly Twitter), WhatsApp, and digital content creators. This generation does not have a single source of information and knowledge, but many channels. This is why communicating with them has become much more difficult for governments, companies, and educational institutions compared to the past.
The new generation lives in several worlds simultaneously. They study at prestigious global universities, work with people from different countries, follow international content creators, celebrate Indian festivals, speak multiple languages, and easily adopt new technologies. Although some may find this unusual, it is actually a sign of their expansion. They are completely Indian and yet equally global.
History shows that every new generation was initially misunderstood. Young people who moved to cities after independence were accused of abandoning traditions. The generation of the 1990s economic reforms was called overly materialistic. At the dawn of the information technology revolution, youth were portrayed as chasing foreign dreams, but time proved that it was these generations that opened new paths of development for India. Gen-Z deserves the same generous understanding.
Ignoring the consciousness hidden behind the slang and candid speech of the digital age would be a mistake. This generation is not confined to the screen; it is at the pulse of the nation. If one strips away the superficial layer of profanity, it becomes clear that Gen-Z is absorbed not in expressing anger, but in new and vibrant intentions for building the nation. And, of course, Gen-Z does not have to choose between becoming global and remaining Indian. Those who believe in their cultural identity can adapt to the world most easily. If governments want to harness the full potential of their youth, they must understand the aspirations of this new generation.
