The age of Nepali youth will now be fixed from 18 to 35. With the recent approval of the ‘National Youth Policy-2082’ by the government, informed Surendra Basnet, executive vice-chairman of the National Youth Council.
Earlier, according to the ‘National Youth Policy-2072’, the age of youth was 16-40 years. The National Youth Policy states that, “In the context of Nepal, the population between the ages of 18 and 35 will be considered youth, in a manner that is consistent with the national and international context.”
According to the national census of 2021, the population of Nepal between the ages of 16 and 40 was 42.56 percent. Basnet said that now there has been a request to calculate the youth population as per the new youth policy. He said that since the Children’s Act defines children as up to 18 years of age, the age group of 18 to 35 years has been included as youth. The United Nations has defined youth as those aged 15 to 24. In India, youth is considered to be those aged 15 to 24. Basnet said that until the ‘National Youth Council Act-2072’ is amended, the legal age of youth will be 16 to 40 years. “The act should be amended according to the youth policy,” he said. Although the youth policy is supposed to be revised every five years, the policy was revised after 10 years.
