Saiyed Danish | India Tomorrow
New Delhi, March 24— The next general elections are around the corner and youths of the nation have started speaking their mind on several pertinent issues dominating various discourses on every side of the political divide.
India Tomorrow spoke to the youth living in the area of Okhla Assembly constituency in Delhi to know which issues are on their mind that they want to be addressed in this election season.
“As a woman I expect a few issues to be raised in the elections. Firstly, the safety and security of the womenfolk as we have seen that despite amendments taking place in criminal laws the crimes against women are still happening. Due to incidences of rapes and fear in our families regarding our safety, women felt it difficult to do jobs requiring graveyard shifts, said Shahi, a resident of Jamia Nagar, who has been active and vocal on women-related issues.
“Gender wage gap is also a big issue for us. A woman labourer gets Rs. 1800, while men get Rs. 3500. In many of the institutions we don’t get maternity leave. Thirdly, we want marital rape to be criminalized. The issue of women’s security can’t be shoved under the traditional narrative of sanctity of marriage. Another major issue, specially for single mothers, is the issue of fee hike in educational institutions due to which single mothers are not able to send their kids to school,” stressed Shahi.
A group of youths at a local tea stall in Zakir Nagar area also spoke their minds on various issues. Speaking about local issues Mansoor, who has just completed his studies in engineering from Jamia Millia Islamia, highlighted that he was happy seeing a dilapidated government school running again which showed, according to him, that Delhi government has really taken some serious steps towards making basic education accessible to everyone.
“Where I live in Zakir Nair, there is a government school which was in pretty bad state for the last twenty years. But recently it was renovated and the old school assumed the look of a new one with visibly improved infrastructure. So we think that the Kejriwal government is genuinely committed towards the cause of education,” he said.
However, when it came to issues of national importance, unemployment came up as a major issue for the youth. When asked which issues are most important, Mansoor said that “unemployment is a major issue for youths like us who have just finished their studies and are looking for jobs.”
“There should be a sense of security regarding jobs. Whether you belong to medical field or engineering or any other; youth want to see that their job opportunities are secured. That’s why even today government jobs are preferred as they offer a sense of security in us and our families,” said Mansoor.
“But these days even government jobs are not secured and their credibility is also questioned as recently we have seen how question papers of government job examinations get leaked,” added Ansh, who also studied engineering with Mansoor.
However, both also said that the times have changed and now youths look forward to private jobs as they provide all those incentives which are basic to their needs. So in the current generation the lure for government jobs has reduced.
When asked about so-called patriotic debates, cow vigilantism and hate mongering against minorities, he said, “This is quite damaging because we also love our country as its loyal citizens. Whenever something against the country happens, we feel equally bad. We felt really sad after the Pulwama attack happened. These soldiers work tirelessly to defend us so if something happens to them it is a personal loss for us, we are students looking for jobs right now but tomorrow if we get a chance to serve the army or we feel moved to do so, we will definitely go for it.”
When India Tomorrow spoke to local students studying in Jamia Millia Islamia, they cited a hue of issues which concern them with respect to the upcoming elections. They appeared to be giving priority to issues related to education.
“Women safety is definitely a prime issue for us. We have to think a lot before going to a particular place and see if we could get back in right time. Unemployment is also an important issue for us. We had seen how Railways had recently declared vacancies which were only in thousands but the number of people applied was almost over 2 crores. That shows how bad the condition of employment in the country is. Also, this whole debate of ‘anti-national’ should be done away with as it yields nothing productive. Hate calls like ‘Go to Pakistan’ are very hurting to us Indian Muslims who have been loyal to our country,” said Samreen Bano, who is pursuing B.Sc. in Biotechnology.
“A big problem which should be addressed immediately is the dearth of government-run engineering colleges in Delhi. There is just one government-run civil engineering college, so we face a lot of difficulties. There is only one college at graduate level. The BBE course in Jamia Millia is also a part-time course despite the fact that our theory and practical classes take place according to the schedule for any full-time course. We want such courses to be declared full-time,” said another group of students in the university.
They also raised concerns over the bad condition of roads in Okhla and around and said, “These roads are only now being constructed due to the elections and that is too late for such basic level of development to take place. There are roads in Abul Fazal area and Tikona Park which cause people a lot of problems due to jams. No systematic procedure of road construction is being followed.
When asked which national issue they think are important to them, they also referred to unemployment and rabid communalism.
“Employment is a major issue for us. As you can see, jobs are hardly available. When we show them degrees, we hear lectures on frying pakodas to sustain ourselves. In addition to this, another issue which perturbs us is the communal divide which has increased manifold. It was not like this before. You pick up any issue and you see everything turns into an ugly communal debate. The last four years have seen an increase in polarization with incidences of mob lynching happening around us. Spaces for inter-faith bonhomie are shrinking and now the equations are sort of thorny among the communities. Whatever you speak, there is a little fear among you of being readily judged,” the students said.
