Why The Youth In Punjab Is Not Too Excited About the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections

Even though voting for 302 parliamentary constituencies, out of a total of 543, has been completed across India, the election hysteria has only just begun in Punjab.

Going to polls in the final phase of the elections on 19 May, the state of Punjab shall witness a contest for 13 seats from the following parties:

• Indian National Congress (INC) – led by the party president Rahul Gandhi and the current Chief Minister, Captain Amarinder Singh;
• Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) – remotely led by Arvind Kejriwal from New Delhi;
• The coalition of Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) – led by Sukhbir Singh Badal – with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP);
• The Punjab Democratic Alliance (PDA) – a new coalition – comprising the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Communist Party of India (CPI), Lok Insaf Party (which currently holds 5 seats in the state legislative assembly), and the Punjabi Ekta Party (PEP) comprising of a few rebel MLAs and MPs from the AAP.

Contrary to what the elaborate roster of parties above might suggest, the state population, especially the youth, which comprises 22-24 per cent (as per the estimated numbers from the 2011 Census), has little to choose from. And this is because of two significant reasons.

Two significant reasons for the disillusionment of the youth

One, unlike the general elections of 2014, no potential catalyst for change can be found in the current political spectrum. In 2014, even though the SAD-BJP alliance won 6 seats of the 13, undoubtedly aided by the Modi wave, and Congress won 3, both saw a vote share decline of 8.91 per cent and 12.13 per cent respectively while the AAP won their only 4 seats in the Parliament with an impressive first time vote share in excess of 24 per cent.

The AAP wave, currently, is like a forgotten romance in the long political history of the state with the state unit in a shambles. Out of the 20 MLAs, six have rebelled and one has floated a separate party (PEP). Of the four MPs who won in 2014, two are no more with AAP with Dharamvir Gandhi who had won from Patiala floating his party (Punjab Front, a part of the PDA), and HS Khalsa, who had won from Fatehgarh Sahib in 2014, aiding Hardeep Puri, from BJP, this time who is fighting from Amritsar.

The rebel wave or an optimistic political option, against the prevailing parties of SAD-BJP and INC that had sickened the young voters, is now gone.

Second, the two years of the state government under Singh have already resulted in discontentment against the Congress. The farmer debt issue stands unresolved, there have been no giant leaps on the policy front, the war against drugs, at best, is weak, and the state finds itself in need of a fiscal package, the request for which was made earlier this year to the Finance Commission by the CM.

The widespread anger against SAD for its ten years of debatable governance has not yet evaporated, thus leaving the young voters in doldrums, without a lot to choose from.

Dismal outlook in terms of jobs and aspirations for youth in Punjab

Apart from harbouring aspirations to settle in Canada or Australia, a majority of the youth in Punjab finds itself engaged in a variety of professions. For the educated ones hailing from rural or urban areas, a career in the field of information technology, Management, law, and consultancy is always an option. Many are otherwise engaged in family businesses that include agriculture, dairy, sugar, and poultry industry, textiles, chemicals, and manufacturing in some industrial centres.

The last few years, however, have been challenging for the youth here. To begin, unemployment has been rising. For instance, in 2016, over 7 lakh applications were received for 7000 positions in the state police service, and these only included applicants who had completed education up to Class 12. Agriculture, once a profitable venture in the state, is now struggling with sluggish growth and falling yields, further impacting the rural workforce.

A large number of qualified students find themselves without jobs for as long as two to three years after their graduation. The growth of the IT Sector in Mohali, one of the prominent cities of the state and bordering Chandigarh and Haryana, has been accelerated but the results are far from satisfactory, with the SEZs failing to reach an occupancy rate of 100 per cent. To make matters worse, the SEZ in Chandigarh, even after a decade of its inception, has not taken off.

Several other factors are also contributing to the isolation of the Punjabi youth from this national election.

GST and demonetisation

Even though the demons of demonetisation were answered in the Assembly elections of 2017 along with ten years of anti-incumbency of the SAD-BJP, the GST is adding to the troubles of rural industries in Punjab, especially the ones engaged in trade and dairy industry.

If demonetisation fractured the brick-kilns, agriculture, and other cash-rich businesses in Punjab, the GST is resulting in problems for traders and exporters. Speaking to Swarajya, 26-year old Sukhman, who helps his father in their iron and steel unit, complains how the lack or delay in the processing of refunds is leaving them struggling for working capital. “Our exports are being hit, and it is becoming difficult to pay off our employees, and this has been going on for a couple of months now. It is not a great place to be in as a young entrepreneur or if one is hoping to expand their business,” he laments.

Drug stereotyping is isolating young voters

Stereotyping the state and its youth for its drug problem is isolating the young voters. The murder of a drug inspector in her office in Kharar, bordering Chandigarh, earlier this year in March has raised questions against the efforts and initiatives of the state government in the war against chitta (chitta refers to synthetically produced drugs that include heroin and more specifically ecstasy, LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide) and methamphetamines).

Manvi, a pharmacy student from Punjab University, spoke to Swarajya on how the current state government has been confused in its efforts. "You first start with banning syringes, without realising that their repeated or shared use amongst abusers would trigger HIV infections, and then you withdraw it. It comes across as if the policy-makers are themselves confused as to how they want to tackle this issue.” The Punjab State Government had attempted to ban the sale of syringes without prescription in 2018.

Sitting in one of the most prominent ice cream parlours of Ludhiana, a local, who does not wish to be named, narrates how one of the wealthiest cities in India accesses drugs. "The involvement of everyone, from politicians to the ones in the administration is an open secret. Raja Sahab (referring to the CM) is making some arrests but the main people are still out there. These peddlers will be replaced by newer ones. They need to finish the network, and the people will themselves crawl out, or else the youth will be finished,” he says.

“For some, it is a fashion trend even,” he comments as he watches a young boy helping himself to ice-cream injected with chocolate sauce using a syringe that is being sold in the same parlour. This local now works as a delivery agent with one of the on-demand food services. Although he had completed his Bachelors in Computer Applications three years ago, this is his first job.

Dharampreet, a political science student at Panjab University, explains how such stereotyping is unhealthy for the state. "Kaptaan Sahab (referring to Captain Amarinder Singh) is right when he says that drugs are smuggled from Pakistan but the message that needs to go out is that we are suffering because of being in the route of this smuggling network and not as much as due to consumption. The label of Punjab being a drug state has to be changed."

When it comes to factoring in the drug situation in Punjab, the youth voter is mostly unmoved. This is because of the failure of INC, SAD-BJP, and more recently the AAP. ‘We don’t deny we have a problem but identifying the state only with this problem in elections is outlandish’, Manvi says.

Healthcare infrastructure leaves much to be desired

The healthcare infrastructure in the state is in a shambles. The perks of Ayushman Bharat are yet to reach the state. While private players have been doing well, the government centres are where urgent attention is required.

In an interaction with Swarajya, Manjot, a student of Punjabi University, tells me that it is hard to get a bed in a government hospital. Even the likes of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandigarh are unable to cater to the large population of patients that arrives from Punjab, in addition to those from Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Haryana.

"They built a statue worth thousands of crores and it might generate money even in the long run but they should have first started with the healthcare here, given how unfulfilling the state government’s efforts have been. We have to travel at least 30-40 kilometres to get to a government hospital, and even then you need some backdoor channel to secure a bed in the hospital," he adds.

When it comes to healthcare in Punjab, there is also the problem of lack of supplies. The hospitals and nursing homes, even the ones with adequate staffing, suffer from the irregular supply of medicines and other medical apparatus, adding to their woes.

“There is also a trust deficit," a medical student explains. "People are more inclined towards private hospitals, even though they charge far more money because they are assured of treatment and care. Here, we do not have enough for everyone, and no one seems to care," Rohini, a 22-year old caretaker in one of the public health centres of Ludhiana says.

PM Kisan Nidhi scheme not good enough for the rural youth

The PM Kisan Samman Nidhi scheme has also not attracted the attention of the young rural workforce in the fields. For one, the scheme is applicable to small and marginal farmers with a landholding of less than 2 hectares and the first instalment of Rs. 2,000 is being seen as peanuts thrown before an election. And two, amongst the farmers with land holdings of more than 2 hectares, the scheme is like a drop in the monetary ocean. For the small farmers itself, it’s too little, and for the bigger ones, it’s too little to matter.

“They are looking at agriculture all wrong both the centre and the state government. Doubling farmers income is a futile exercise if they do not invest in land. Organic farming has not been encouraged. Pesticides and other harmful chemicals flow in the crops like the water of Sutlej,” Jashan tells Swarajya.

“We grow crops for exports but ten years from now, the groundwater reserves will be depleted irreversibly and then I don’t know how good a double income will be.” Jashan completed his engineering from a local private university and is awaiting a Canadian Permanent Residency Status (PRS). "The land is going to be as good as barren in terms of yields a decade from now and I’d rather sell it to a real estate developer than invest a lifetime here," he finishes.

Lack of effective labour laws

Aman, a resident of Amritsar who has signed up with one of the on-demand cab services, spoke to Swarajya on how the lack of intention and action on labour laws has been a disappointment for a lot of youngsters from Punjab who are in this trade.

“When you drive a taxi or truck in Canada, you are paid on an hourly basis, even for one extra hour overtime. Here, we work for 15-hours every day and with great difficulty we make enough to sustain ourselves and pay the monthly instalments for the car. There is a lot of exploitation. Our payments are sometimes delayed, and we have to work hard now that there are so many other drivers. It doesn’t cost much to impose labour laws, does it?” he asks. “I hope my graduation enables me to move to Canada soon. I’ll drive a taxi there. It should be good.”

The sluggish growth of the IT Sector in Mohali

The slow and sluggish growth of the IT Sector in Mohali has not been able to cater to the engineering and management graduates from many public and private universities in Punjab, and thus, they are left to compete in Gurgaon and Noida with students from other states.

Located on the stretch in the vicinity of the Chandigarh International Airport, the Mohali IT Park is being completed in phases, and without the presence of any big companies, it leaves young workers like Aman looking for opportunities outside India while supplementing their income by driving cabs or working with other on-demand services.

State government’s failure to revamp the education policy

The failure of the state government to revamp the education policy has been another disappointment for the youth. Having completed his Bachelor of Education, Dharminder had to struggle for over a year to get a job in a private school.

“The curriculum is outdated and the hiring practices are not at all suited to contemporary school setup.” Son of a dairy baron, Dharminder is paid Rs 10,000 for working eight hours, six days a week. "I have my family business to support me but it is challenging for people in my age group to survive like this. There is no law to ensure a decent salary or effort to improve the curriculum. It’s all rabb bharose,” he sighs.

The Pakistan factor and its effect on the youth

The Pakistan factor will not be as big an issue as it might be for other young voters across India. There is positive acknowledgement on the steps taken by the current National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government against Pakistan but that will translate into votes only in some pockets.

On asking if the government’s efforts to pursue the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor before the end of this year would influence the young voter, many felt that the basic needs must be catered to first.

Kulwinder, another graduate from Panjab University had a unique perspective on this. "They built the heritage street in Amritsar – the former state government – but outside that area, the entire city of Amritsar needs redevelopment and better infrastructure. Yes, the state now has better expressways but we have the Golden Temple, so Kartarpur Sahib is not that important for me,” he asserts. “We need the basic setup first. Guru Nanak would have asked the current leaders to focus on health and schools, before anything else.”

“Who else is there to choose from apart from Modi?”

When it comes to choosing between Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi, the choice is somewhat evident for most. Citing the weak political ability of the former, they come across as inclined to vote for the NDA government, not by choice but by the lack of it. As many of them questioned, "Who else is there to choose from apart from Modi?”

Some suggestions

The new batch of MPs from Punjab must inspire confidence. Unlike the last batch, the MPs must act as the ideal bridge between the aspirations of the youth of Punjab and the policy intention of the new central government.

The presence of stalwarts like Sunny Deol, Manish Tiwari, Harsimrat Kaur Badal, Dharamvir Gandhi, Hardeep Singh Puri, and many more should offer hope to the young voters. However, due to policy failure on multiple fronts and the disappointment with all the three major parties, the atmosphere, as of now, is relatively subdued and one of isolation.

"By the time we go to vote, the election will be done, dusted, and already decided. I hope, like our vote, our aspirations will not be a mere formality for the new central government," Kulwinder says, echoing the youth of Punjab.

This report is part of Swarajya's 50 Ground Stories Project - an attempt to throw light on issues and constituencies the old media largely refuses to engage. You can support this initiative by sponsoring as little as Rs 2,999. Click here for more details.