Ashok Raina
As political activity heats up ahead of the upcoming Bihar elections, the Election Commission of India is being accused of completely ignoring the educational level and age fixation of the citizens of India for their allocation before their participation in the election process even in the 21st century.
It seems that political circles lack any positive thinking or perspective on the qualities a candidate must possess to successfully engage with the country’s voters. In this state of helplessness, even after independent India, the Election Commission has yet to fail to set any educational or age requirements to become a public representative.
The Irony is that in the name of democracy, the country’s educated youth are being forced to reflect on how a power grab is being played out in the name of politics. Lawmakers have set educational qualifications and age limits for unemployed and educated youth to obtain government jobs, and have also set a retirement age for employees. However, no measures have been taken to bring public representatives, who handle government work and are ready to serve the people, under the purview of educational qualifications and age limits to build a strong nation.
Before and after elections, cases of seating arrangements and horse-trading often come to public attention. In the world of politics, not only athletes, film stars, and heroes, but also avid singers can be used to easily gain power.
While everyone knows that a cricketer can be a good cricketer and might have won the hearts of the people, but when he knocks on the doors of politics, what will be his image among the public, it is not only difficult for a cricketer to decide but also the thinking that develops in the hearts of the public about him later can never be changed. Similarly, a good film maestro, hero or heroine or an artist or a good singer can definitely display good art but it is not necessary that he can be successful in displaying his art on the screen or stage of politics as well. It is a matter of sadness and regret that even after 78 years of India’s independence, there has been no change in our thinking and no attempt has been made to change it till date.
We must note that during the recruitment process for any vacant post, education and age limits are determined, and selection is made accordingly. However, to become a public representative, one must have at least a diploma in politics and there are also age requirements.
If the manner of selection of candidates by the Election Commission is good, then the day is not far when our country will be capable and able to touch many heights.
While on one hand there are claims of emphasis on women’s education, on the other hand no educational classification is being fixed for selecting public representatives. People have become accustomed to hearing and seeing news of vote-casting and vote-stealing, horse trading, seating sharing, and cabinet arrangement every day.
The situation we are stuck in has become quite confusing and instead of improving people’s future, it has turned into oppression. The question is arising here once again that for a strong nation “Will ECI set educational and age criteria for contesting candidates?”. |
