Youth must move from protest to the polling booth

After the recent student protests in Delhi and other cities, Jharkhand is witnessing a similar wave of youth unrest. What needles the young most is not being heard but merely being spoken to. Exclusion from a two-way conversation breeds disempowerment, which can turn into disenchantment.

Digitisation has created a new camaraderie of restlessness among the youth. But this is no political consolidation, even if the outcome is political. Protests may yield a demand or two, but lack the continuity or authority to bring about change. For this, the best available system is still elections. That is why India's young should increasingly turn towards elections if they wish to have more questions answered.

Dissent through protests is undoubtedly part of the democratic toolkit. But aspirational movements seeking policy influence need to move through electoral politics. Political activism, at best, sensitises society to an issue. It is not the answer per se.


Which is also why it is ironic that one of the prominent categories identified as shying away from participation in the electoral process is the youth, belying the promise behind the Constitution's 61st Amendment, which lowered the voting age from 21 to 18. This shortfall stands in stark contrast to women, who have moved ahead of men in voting numbers over the last decade, in both national and state elections.

Youth as a voting community is less demarcated than women, and less homogeneous. Political parties have not yet sharply designed their agendas for young people, as they have done for women, whether through welfare or freebies. The electoral process and its management will need targeted reforms to involve them, while political parties have significant catching up to do.

The EC has, in recent years, made efforts to engage with youth: creating campus ambassadors, fostering electoral literacy clubs, building electoral education into curricula, partnering with youth forums, roping in youth icons, etc. Addressing youth disconnect was among the primary objectives behind the starting of the Systematic Voters' Education and Electoral Participation (SVEEP) programme. New voters now have three additional dates in a year, besides January 1, for registration, following changes to the Representation of the People Act in 2022.

Politics and elections have remained largely the preserve of elders, with only a smattering of young politicians in the fray. Parliament has grown older over the years, with the average age of MPs rising from 46 yrs in 1952 to 56 in the current Lok Sabha - almost double India's median age of about 29.2 yrs. While electors in the 18-35 age group constitute about a third of India's over 900-mn-strong electorate, Parliament houses only a few under-35 MPs.

The EC could do more to remove obstacles in the way of youth participation, both as electors and candidates. Political parties could do much more internally to pass on leadership to the youth and field young candidates, rather than meeting them only at protests. Parties need to remodel their agendas to match the aspirations and anxieties of Gen Z and Gen Alpha.

What typically does not figure in political campaigns are issues concerning the quality of education and fairness of exams, the unproductive nature of academic pursuits, and, not least, careers lost amid galloping technology in a xenophobic world. References to unemployment in party narratives are hopelessly political, without any experiential deep dive. Free and fair elections could become a more potent channel for India's youth to take forward their ideas, for themselves and for India.

It is a strategic call, both personal and collective, for the younger generation to step up to the plate. Institutional absorption of youth in decision-making can pre-empt post-protest frustration. Youth must walk beyond Jantar Mantar to the polling arena. An electoral march is a different game and can be more challenging.

Nations worldwide face a paradox: the new generation's critique of their governments sits uneasily alongside its growing alienation from the constitutionally laid path of democratic representation. By becoming a stronger part of the participatory democratic process through elections, youngsters can have a greater, longer and deeper impact on their nations' policies.