A whopping 21.05 lakh people in the age group of 18-19 years and another 1.17 crore between 20 and 29 years of age have been declared eligible to exercise their franchise this year. However, their teachers feel that most of them are not in a position to take an informed decision due to lack of in-depth political knowledge.
R. Murali, former Principal, The Madura College, laments the younger generation confining their discussions on politics to making fun of leaders and sharing memes on the social media. He is concerned about the young voters’ failure to give serious thought to analysing the political atmosphere in the State and attempt to come out with concrete solutions to problems. “As of now, only a miniscule percentage of college students have a clear idea about politics. The rest think that pleasure seeking is the goal of life… These young minds are against corruption and they detest dishonest politicians but, unfortunately, they do not know how to bring about a change through the power of the ballot,” he says.
Stating that more than 2,000 students are friends with him on Facebook, he says most of them do not even have the patience to read serious posts on politics. “No one bothers to discuss the track record of political parties or the quality of discussions held in the Assembly or how good it would be if all vociferous leaders, irrespective of political affiliations, get elected this time,” he rues.
Concurring with him, I. Ismail, Principal of Rama Prabha College of Arts and Science at Arasanampatti in Dindigul district, says that a talk with his students revealed that only less than 40 per cent were clear about whom they were going to vote on May 16.
The rest did not know even the names of the contestants in the fray in their constituencies and were not interested in following it up.
Blaming the academic pattern too for the absence of political awareness, Mr. Ismail says: “The Constitution is the supreme document on the basis of which our country is run. Yet, many students do not have even a basic idea of the Constitutional principles and how they are implemented at the ground level. This must change for ensuring a better informed electorate.”
