Education, healthcare, jobs: Demands of first-time voters in UP

First-time voters in Uttar Pradesh say that they are tired of the state’s communal politics. With two phases of polling already completed in the state, they hope the focus of the parties hoping to form the new-incoming government will now be on better policies and good governance.

Shatakshi Srivastava, a first-time voter from Noida believes that all political parties in UP are stained with “communal, criminal and corrupt people”. But what she actually wants is better laws for women’s safety and good primary education for the state.

Akanksha Singh, a psychologist from Meerut, agrees with Srivastava. She says that the way the migrant labourers and poor people were treated by the police during the lockdowns showed how little the current government cared.

Kanpur resident, Umra (name changed on request), resonates with that sentiment. She sighs that it was unfortunate how many migrant labourers suffered due to the unpreparedness and callousness of the authorities. For her, while healthcare and education are a priority, the bigger evil is communalism that needs to be fought with first. “Whichever party comes to power, they need to implement stricter laws against mob lynching and communal violence. It’ll take time to repair all the damage that has been done, but we need to start somewhere,” says she. There is also the need for a caste census, says Umra, for forming better and more informed policies for the backward castes.

An engineer from Lucknow, Stuti Srivastava, too thinks that politicians need to stop discriminating between Hindus and Muslims, and actually focus on creating employment opportunities for the youth. Says she, “Since Covid. students have been unable to get their dream job or even a job, which is disturbing their mental health immensely.”

But before anything else, the Noida resident feels that crime needs to be reduced in the state. Says she, “The crime rate in UP is so high. If people will not be safe, the whole point of employment and sanitation won't make sense.”