I’ve seen them. I’ve seen those politicians standing on the podium, making promises they never fulfill. I’ve seen them convince people how they are better than the politician who gave a speech five minutes ago. I’ve seen them on tempos and trucks, loaded with garlands and vouching for the fact that they’ll make the country a better place to live in. Even though I’m very much an Indian and I love and respect my and country; yet every time something like this happens, I just shrug and walk away.
No! It’s not because I do not hold interest in politics; it’s because no matter what, their concerns for the country will never cater to the concerns we face in everyday life. The current government is calling itself the ‘chowkidar’ of the country, the word has been used to such lengths to describe themselves that the opposition has created a slogan around “chowkidar chor hai.” I really wonder if we signed up for such kind of stupidity, where the Twitter account of the Prime Minister has ‘chowkidar’ as a prefix in his handle. But this term signifies certain traits which concern me.
1. A chowkidar takes care of what happens outside the home, he doesn’t bother about what’s inside the four walls.
2. A chowkidar guards a house, but doesn’t guards the housemates from each other and well, that makes all the difference in a diverse country like India.
Our dear chowkidars have the world affairs well sorted, but what they hold no concern for is what happens inside the country, and well, that’s exactly what matters the most to you, me and every young member who’ll vote again, or probably for the first time.
Here’s a list of things that these so-called ‘chowkidars’ should be instead focusing on.
1) Education
Education plots the development of a country the most; growth would be a far-fetched goal unless all our youngsters are graduates and all children, at least, complete elementary school education. With the GDP of 2.601 trillion USD, as per World Bank, the percentage of GDP spent on education was nearly 2.7% in 2018, a decrease from 3.1% in 2013. This not only talk in great length about the ruling government but also about how we are proving to be highly incompetent to meet the 6% allotment goal, which was also promised in the last manifesto.
The government promises to deliver a ‘skilled India,’ yet not investing in the growth of that skilled labour. Being the youth of India, I believe that education is the foundation stone for an empowered tomorrow, and now is the perfect time to invest in our tomorrow.
2) Unemployment
With United States, China, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom and France leading the way, our GDP still lags behind on the whole because even though we have the man-force to work, we do not hold enough employment opportunities for the youth, specifically jobs which would ensure the security of the employee.
Hence, either the youth is underemployed or unemployed in various fields of work. As the youth, I do not wish to dwell further in the government with the politics played on emotions, and hence, I might not believe in the election strata of votes and representatives because it doesn’t serve my issue of an ideal India.
3) Violence Against Women
The hooliganism of patriarchy has never failed to die down in our country and that’s the exact reason why we need a reserved section of girls in the metro, or the bus, in fact, we need reserved pink autos for them, not because we are concerned, but because as a country we have failed to teach our men how important it is to respect women. Men, in different societal roles of father, husband, or just being men, have tried to control access of opportunities for women.
Be it forcing them to dropout to fulfill the responsibilities of household, or for the reason how education may spoil them, a myth our rural men hold very dearly. Colleges also see gender-biased moral policing on the part of the administration. Violence against women is a target for every government until we narrow down it to equality for every women, on the streets and within their home and close environment, safe and carefree.
4) Homosexuality
Passing a bill, amending a section doesn’t change it all. The mental construct of the society continues to haunt the lives and routine of homosexuals because it’s a long way to go before they’ll be accepted as normal. They still have a million questions haunting them when it comes to disclosing their reality to the world; Ek Ladki Ko Dekha Toh Aisa Lagaa revolves around this fear of disclosure too. This year, I’ll vote for the party who happens to be sensitive towards the needs of homosexuals because, no matter what, we hold our right to love.
These issues are plaguing the youth of our country and that’s exactly what needs to be catered to by the so-called representatives of our society because the chowkidar so far has not been able to narrow down on them. I might want India to be the next superpower, but more importantly, I want it to grow out of its own issues. That’s what my awaaz demands.