Geriatric Power

Reaffirming that age has never been an obstacle for Indian politicians, a recent report lists India as the country with the oldest head of government as well as the oldest ministerial cabinet among 15 of the largest economies in the world. At 78, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is one of the only two septuagenarians on the list. The average age of the Indian cabinet 64.4 years is almost two-and-a-half times the country's median age at 25.9. This is far greater than most of the developed economies where the difference is only a decade or so. Even the Chinese leadership is more youthful with an average cabinet age of 61.2 years.

We might have one of the youngest populations in the world, but the difference in age between our leaders and the populace is palpable. There is thus an increasing disconnect between the leadership and the people. Apart from the age gulf dynastic politics too is a massive hurdle to youth finding expression. The present lot of young leaders has to live in the shadow of political patriarchs until the latter make way, which in the Indian context could take an extraordinarily long time. A gerontocracy is fundamentally conservative and risk-averse, blocking reform in any direction. India's yawning age gulf goes a long way towards explaining the quality of the leadership we get. Reservation for women is now a hot-button political issue. Perhaps we also need to think in terms of reservation for youth, leaving out the creamy layer of those who come with dynastic connections. Institutionalisation of inner-party democracy would help, too.

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