This Lok Sabha Election, across the country, the political parties are all banking on the first time voters. In Puducherry as well, there are close to 40,000 new voters that the parties are all hoping to woo. Many of these new voters are studying in the various colleges across the UT.
According to Keerthana from a local Government College, even though the Government has promised a number of special benefits for education, most of them have not been fulfilled. Even the Pondicherry University does not have a local reservation for all their courses.
This means that the people of the UT, especially those from the poorer families, do not have access to good education. Whoever comes in as MP should take steps to remedy this, she said
Most of the people who The Hindu approached did not seem to think the party of the candidate mattered as much as the kind of steps they would take.
“It is important to understand what the candidate is promising, but there is a problem when it comes to people keeping their promises.
PromisesIn Puducherry politicians promise to give many things free, but very few actually implement it. Even today, most Government school students walk to school barefoot because the Government has not provided them shoes. It is very difficult for us to believe what the politicians says,” Ashok who studies in a private engineering college said.
“I don’t care what party I vote for, but the candidate should make believable promises that will help the people of the UT. Often the people from Mahe are completely forgotten by the MP candidates,” Kavya from Mahe said.
“My father was among the many people who lost their jobs with the closing of Regency Ceramics. Whoever comes as candidate should have the power to create job opportunities even in the enclaves,” Ramesh from Yanam said.
In Karaikal even though there is a National Institute of Technology, it is very difficult for people from Karaikal to get admission here. Even for other competitive examinations, there is not enough educational infrastructure in place. Another problem that the MP candidate should look at is the creation of jobs in Karaikal itself, Surya from Karaikal said.
Nota voteWhile many of the first time voters were aware of the Nota vote, of the 30 people asked, only one said the Nota vote was an option. For the rest of them, they believe that using the Nota option would mean that somebody who was completely worthless could come to power.
In the meanwhile, the SFI and DYFI have been campaigning in various colleges asking the students to vote for people’s rights.
