India has more than 50% of population below the age of 25 and more than 65% of population below the age of 35. That makes India one of the youngest countries where ideally youth should be playing a fundamental role in driving and running this biggest democracy of the world. Yet, statistics show that only 6% of the leaders and ministers in the government are below the age of 35. Which means that, in spite of abundant availability of young and intelligent minds; the country lacks the corresponding percentage of youth participation in the politics and governance. The political parties at various points have tried to encourage students and youngsters to join politics and contribute to the country. Yet, there hasn’t been any substantial progress and students and youths still remain far away and unaware about the details of political situation in India ?
What exactly is the reason behind this ? We ask. Based on the overall situation and after talking to some of the young people from different regions within the country, we have listed some of the major hindrances for the youth to enter Indian politics.
Unpredictability
Of course, without a doubt, politics is one of the most unpredictable career choice anyone could make. Even if some of the parties in India offer rich dividends financially, it is not sure whether that party will continue to take services from a person for a long time. Politics is driven by necessity at the moment and its statistically impossible to prove one’s requirement based on the needs. Plus many people have the ability to change the picture based on their own secret agendas and desires. Nothing is guaranteed here and that scares the young who are already struggling to meet the demands of their own personal lives.
Severe competition to enter and succeed.
Majorly, Indian politics is a commerce run by the aristocratic, old, Indian political families. So like a Bollywood star’s son or daughter will get an opportunity easily, a political family’s son/daughter will get a lot more focus and importance. It is extremely tough for outsiders to build their identity and prove their mettle within the public domain. Also, lack of proper guidance can create lot of hurdles on the way which discourage youngsters.
Requires money to Contest Elections
An obvious fact, you have to have a lot of money to promote, advertise and publicize your work. Even after being a member of the party, the stake holders would expect you to spend truckloads of money from your own pockets. Parents from middle class families do not have that much money to spend. Or the person has to depend on illegal means to raise it. Both the options reduce the probable head count in the field.
Vested interests and internal complications
Most of the members in the party have their own vested interests and agendas. So if they find some youngster coming in a way of that, they can go to any lengths to stop it. Also, many a times, internally the party has a complex and chaotic structure driven by egos and self-esteems. It then becomes hard to maintain long term loyalties and today’s hard work might not culminate into tomorrow’s success. Someone who is not able to adapt to the changing situation and do smart work can easily be removed or dismissed. This is a big deterrent in youths today entering politics.
Hard life verses easy life
When youngsters compare politics to other professions, they realize that it is an extremely hard life. Constant travelling, keeping in touch with public, creating network, doing physical efforts at the ground level, visiting internal rural areas, etc might feel really difficult compared to other jobs which require sitting in an AC office and working on a computer. Of course youths would like to have a comfortable life enjoying the fruits of their hard work rather than just struggling day in and day out.
Increasing crime rates within political parties
With the number of news items coming out every day about the corruption, murders, mal practices within the political parties of the country, it is no surprise that normal people want to keep away from it. From the outside, politics is one murky quicksand which might suck the life out of you. So the youths feel the more distance the better. Even parents are scared and don’t want their children to enter something which is coated with crime, illegal activities and suspicious people
No heartfelt passion for social work
Politics after all is social work in a nutshell. In spite of it being full of people with twisted minds, politics require a person to have that drive for social work. He/she should feel for the country, its people, its problems. And if that mad passion is not there, its unlikely that a person can survive in the business for a long term. One can find very few people who would consider that gratification of helping people more important than the money involved. This invariably dwindles the participation in politics.
There are also other minor reasons like lack of guidance, location, family back ground, educational qualification etc which affects the decision a youth makes. But they may not be responsible as much as the above mentioned factors.
