A petition doing the rounds in the run-up to Election 2019 has mooted an interesting thought. Do young people need reservation in Parliament? After all, the average age of the Indian population is 27 years and that of the Indian MP (Member of Parliament) is 57, the petition says, adding, “The age difference is of more than a generation.”

Asking for 30 per cent reservation for young people to help bring in young ideas into Parliament, the petition reasons that young people are interested in addressing issues, including unemployment, over-population, poverty, climate change and gender equality. Instead, they are saddled with “age old” issues of casteism, religious intolerance, and so on. Reservation, unfortunately, is seen as the panacea for all ills, when in fact it is anything but that. The clamour for reservation, especially in present times, has become more of a leverage of sorts that people use with their politicians and vice-versa. The initial noble effort to uplift people out of their poverty seems to have fallen by the wayside. The only way reservation can truly help a country, without pitting its people against each other, is in taking affirmative action to support someone from a poor economic background. To offer free primary education and support during schooling, as these young people study further and empower themselves, could be one such. Merely perpetuating a “quota” culture for different castes and communities is only alienating the bright young people of this country. The disadvantaged feel left behind and those who strive for merit also end up feeling overlooked.

Against this backdrop, the petition’s call for reservation for the young should provoke politicians to think: Why does their political-speak not seem to resonate with the aspirations and realities of the young today? Politicians could do well to tune-in to the priorities of the young and the restless and work towards creating an environment of opportunity and equitable growth in the interest of a stable future for all.

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