Mumbai, Sept. 12 -- Union finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Thursday hit out at the Opposition parties for questioning whether India can convert its expanding young population into an economic advantage, saying the country's demographic dividend was not a future promise but a "living reality" already driving the country towards its goal of becoming a developed nation by 2047. Speaking at the valedictory session of Global Fintech Fest 2026 in Mumbai, Sitharaman said, "Some commentators continued to assess India's 21st-century economic ambitions through "20th-century lenses and relied on perceptions rather than data while debating whether the demographic dividend had turned into a burden." She said that there is a persistent habit among some commentators to view India's demographic expansion through a lens of perpetual pessimism. Taking a swipe at such critics, Sitharaman invoked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's recent social media phrase and commented. "Our Naraaz Fufa ji's are never short of reasons to doubt India's momentum and capabilities of our youth." "They spend their time debating in television studios whether the demographic dividend has slipped away or turned into a burden. They rely on vibe casting, feel casting rather than actual numbers," she added. Sitharaman said India's young population was already moving beyond such scepticism by building enterprises, developing technology and creating new economic opportunities. "Young minds of this country, like you here, have simply bypassed their cynicism and gone ahead and built it," she said, addressing the audience amid applause. She argued that the current generation was not waiting for traditional measures of productivity or established institutions to validate its contribution to the economy. "This generation is not waiting for legacy yardsticks to validate their productivity. They are already writing tomorrow's code, building enduring enterprises and proving that India's greatest demographic advantage is an active, unstoppable reality," she said. Pointing to the audience at the fintech gathering, Sitharaman said those present represented the demographic dividend in action. "I would ask them only to look at this forum. What is here before me is the living reality of our demographic dividend," she said, asking the audience whether they agreed....