Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday announced the ‘Young, Upcoming and Versatile Authors’ (YUVA) scheme, a mentorship programme to train young authors.
The scheme is aimed at training 75 aspiring writers below 30 years, who are ready to express themselves and project India and its culture and literature globally. A consolidated scholarship of Rs 50,000 per month for a period of six months per author will be paid under the mentorship scheme.
Sharing the link to the official webpage of the programme, PM Modi tweeted, “Here is an interesting opportunity for youngsters to harness their writing skills and also contribute to India’s intellectual discourse,”
Here is an interesting opportunity for youngsters to harness their writing skills and also contribute to India’s intellectual discourse. Know more… https://t.co/SNfJr7FJ0V pic.twitter.com/rKlGDeU39U
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) June 8, 2021
Through this scheme, the government aims to bring reading and authorship as a preferred profession at par with other job options. It is also expected to impart a positive psychological push to the young minds amidst the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on the mental health of children.
The procedure for selection to the programme is as follows:
During the phase I training of three months, the National Book Trust (NBT) will organise a two weeks’ writers’ online programme for the selected candidates. The young authors will be trained by two eminent authors/mentors from NBT’s panel of accomplished authors and writers. After the completion of the online programme, the authors will be trained for two weeks at various online/on-site national camps organised by NBT.
And in the next three months of phase II training, the selected candidates will get to expand their understanding and hone their skills through interaction at various international events such as literary festivals, book fairs, virtual book fairs, cultural exchange programmes, etc.
Also, a book or a series of books written by these young authors will be published by NBT and a royalty of 10 per cent will be paid to the authors.
Their published books will also be translated into other Indian languages to ensure the exchange of culture and literature between different states.