Click to play videoNew Delhi: Jyotiraditya Scindia and Jitin Prasada, two young turks, were inducted in the PM's cabinet on Sunday, but the average age of the Indian cabinet is 59. So where does India stand in comparison to the west?
While the Government boasts it is infusing young blood into the Union Ministry, a closer look at the list of ministers breaks the myth.
Only four members of the Cabinet — including Jitin Prasada and Jyotiraditya Scindia — are below 40 years of age. More than half the members of the Council of Ministers are 60 plus.
The average age of the Union Council of Ministers is 59, with the oldest cabinet minister being 81-year-old Sis Ram Ola, heading the Mining Ministry.
Compare this with the UK where the average age of Prime Minister Gordon Brown's cabinet is 49 years.
Fifty-seven-year-old Gordon brown was presceded by Tony Blair who became Britain's Prime Minister whe he was 44 years old. What's more he quit office before crossing 55 years of age.
There are similar examples from across the globe and the world is choosing the present to mould the future.
While the man anointed by President Vladimir Putin as his chosen heir to the Kremlin is just 42 years old, 47-year-old Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was re-elected Spain's PM recently.
The US could also have a 47-year old President, if Senator Barack Obama wins the US Presidential elections.
The heads of state in Australia and even Afghanistan are much younger than the Indian Prime Minister.
Manmohan Singh is 75 years old and he only has Raul Castro of Cuba for company, who heads the state at 76 years of age.
Even the Opposition party in India has nothing new to offer. While Atal Bihari Vajpayee was 74 when he became the Prime Minister, their prime ministerial candidate for the next election, L K Advani, is 81 years old.
We, in India, believe that age brings wisdom with it, but with a country that's dominated with a young population, isn't it time that the baton of power be passed to Youngistan instead?
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