Interest is one thing and participation in electoral politics another. We have to see if this interest translates into higher voting percentage or not.
If you have been cribbing that the younger generation is glued to social networking sites and has nothing to do with the society or politics, you are wrong. According to a study, a whopping 71% of Indian youth were interested in politics in 2011. The percentage of such youth was only 45% in 2009.
The study also says one in every 10 youth is “highly interested” in politics. It says the interest level of youth increases as their education and exposure to media goes up.
The huge surge in interest of youth in politics within two years is significant, especially since the level of interest increased negligibly, from 43% to 45%, between 1996 and 2009. However, the study shows that about 46% of young urban women are interested in politics as compared to 81% young urban men. This is despite the fact that several top political posts in the country are now headed by women.
The study is the part of UN-Habitat report ‘State of urban youth, India 2013: Employment, Livelihoods, Skills’. The report was released in Mumbai on Sunday by program officer of UN-Habitat Eric Luguya. MP Supriya Sule was also present on the occasion.
This is the first such study by the UN agency released in collaboration with IRIS Knowledge Foundation.
The study on ‘Indian Urban Youth and Political Participation’— one of the chapters in the UN-Habitat report — was conducted by Delhi’s Centre for the Study of Developing Society, which surveyed youth between the ages of 15 and 32. The report also says that interest of rural youth is not much different from that of urban youth.
Student unions of all major political parties in Maharashtra saw a huge surge in registration in the past year.
Suraj Thakur, 22, an undergraduate who is also National Students Union of India’s Mumbai chief, says, “Over 48,000 students joined our union in 2012, a much larger number as compared to previous years. This shows increased interest among the young about politics.”
However, Surendra Jondhale, professor of political science in University of Mumbai, is quick to add, “Interest is one thing and participation in electoral politics another. We have to see if this interest translates into higher voting percentage or not.”
Echoing Jondhale, economist Ajit Ranade says, “We have to see if this huge interest translates into higher voter registration and voting percentage.”
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