Most of the young population leaves their hometown in search of better opportunities and education.
New Delhi: Youth representation in Indian politics has typically been minimal. A majority of the young population in poll-bound Uttarakhand leave their hometown in search of better opportunities and education. People from the hilly regions frequently relocate to cities like Delhi or Mumbai in search of a better living. According to some reports, nearly 700 villages in Uttarakhand have become completely depopulated as a result of migration. As a result, the representation of young people in the state is thought to be considerably lower.
“Migration is one of the pressing challenges in Uttarakhand as the majority of the young population here go outside to, say, Delhi or some other states to get their education. The lack of access to qualitative education is the key reason for migration among youth,” a member from the Youth Congress in Uttarakhand told The Sunday Guardian.
Several government colleges and universities in India hold student union elections on a regular basis. However, due to the alarming cases of Covid, such electoral procedures or union elections have come to a halt, and as a result, interested students have yet to be given the opportunity to contest the election.
“The student union election is almost conducted in most of the government universities. However, due to Covid, since the past two years, no election has been conducted in the colleges. Youngsters, over here, are interested in politics, but due to migration and the lack of access to good education, most of them have to visit other states for their further studies,” another member from BJP Yuva Morcha told this correspondent.
According to the Indian Parliamentary Union, the young parliamentarian is considered to be in the age group of 30 or below. In Lok Sabha, the average age of the parliamentarian must be 55 and the median age of the parliamentarian should be 29. The Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs states that the investment in youth parliament programmes was started in 1966 to promote democracy and promote the knowledge of working of the Indian parliament amongst the young population. Since then, a number of schools, universities, colleges, and Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalayas have begun to hold youth union elections. More than 8000 educational institutions have been covered by the initiative thus far.
Looking into the history of Uttarakhand, the state was formed in 2000 and has been governed by two national parties: the BJP and Congress. Both the parties are unable to comprehend the regional problems (lack of power, infrastructure, earthquake-prone zones) in the state, therefore, it is critical that the leaders of the national parties must understand the local problems of the state, rather than focus on promoting tourism. In addition, the rigidity and complexity of the Indian bureaucracy do not provide many opportunities to young politicians. In India, different people, Men, women, youth, and children, have different ideologies yet, the ideologies of youth and children have frequently formed a part of the excluded community in Indian politics.
“For young people, political journeys are long and winding and when they finish the journey of entering mainstream politics, they no longer qualify as ‘youth.’ It is very difficult for the people, below 30, to participate actively in Indian politics. Even if, they do participate, they don’t get immediately elected to Lok Sabha or mainstream Indian politics or become a significant face,” a member, who used to participate in the union election, told this paper.
He also spoke of a lack of experience amongst youth in contesting elections in mainstream politics in India. Although both BJP and Congress have contributed some excellent roles in the development of the state, Uttarakhand continues to grapple with the key issue of migration amongst youth, so the representation of youth in the political stream also gets negligent.
He, further, added, “As a youth, I feel that several young people lack the experience to contest elections in mainstream politics, however, they do know contemporary problems, like employment, migration, education and so forth. Also, Indian parents don’t encourage their children to get involved in active politics, where money powers and muscle power often play a significant role. As a result, no one takes young politicians or youth seriously in Indian politics.” The election for the 70-member Uttarakhand Assembly will begin on 14 February. Voter turnout is projected to be lower in the hilly regions as a result of growing migration.