Patna: College students in poll-bound Bihar, many of whom are first-time voters, rue the lack of job opportunities that has been forcing several of their seniors to leave the state in search of work, and want a government that can strengthen the education system and generate employment.
They also expressed frustration over irregular government job postings, often marred by paper leaks and delayed exam schedules.
As the state goes to assembly polls in two phases on November 6 and 11, around 14 lakh youth are expected to vote for the first time, according to the data released by the Election Commission. Voters in the age group 18-29, totalling 1.63 crore, reportedly constitute an estimated 22-25 per cent of the state’s electorate.
“Our hopes from the present government have faded completely,” said Abhinav Kumar Shukla, a postgraduate student in the Hindi Department of Patna University, while he was busy solving practice sets for his STET exams in a corridor that connects the English Department with its French-style administrative block.
Shukla, who hails from Bhabhua town in Kaimur district, believes that there is a need for “widespread employment generation within the state”.
Santosh Kumar, a visually challenged student of Patna College who hails from Jamui district, said, “Patna University’s present must match its past. Its alumni are par excellence but its present state is below par.”
A constituent of Patna University, Patna College, once called ‘Oxford of the East’, now appears to be sparsely occupied, with untrimmed grasses on the ground and near-empty corridors.
Patna University had been a hotbed of political activism, producing renowned intellectuals, thinkers and litterateurs, among others.
It has produced political leaders from Lalu Prasad Yadav and Nitish Kumar to J P Nadda. The political sharpness still runs in the veins of the students studying in the university.
On the question of central university status for Patna University, Santosh said, “The condition of central universities is no better, but we will definitely root for that status for our university.”
Ravindra Kumar Singh, who hails from Kaimur district, is a student of Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University (SMNRU) in Lucknow, but currently stays in a hostel dedicated to visually impaired students in Patna University.
He said, “Rights of Persons with Disabilities (RPwD) Act, 2016, is not being implemented on the ground in Bihar. I will vote for a party that will prioritise education. The likelihood of better implementation of the Act under its rule will be more.”
Ravindra highlighted the lack of audio labs and other facilities important for specially-abled students in Bihar’s universities.
Prashant Kishor’s claim that “Bihar’s youth won’t have to go outside the state for work” if his party is voted to power seems to have struck a chord with some students.
Mehzabin Firdaus, a first-year BA student in the Urdu Department of Patna College, will cast her maiden vote in the upcoming elections.
Though seemingly clueless, she found Kishor’s Jan Suraaj to be a promising contender, although she said she would “take advice from her family” before casting her vote.
Gaurav Kumar, a postgraduate student in Psychology Department, who will vote for the second time in this election, believes that “health and education sectors are in dismal state” and “corruption is rampant”.
Migration, he said, is another big issue in Bihar.
“Our region, Jehanabad, was the worst sufferer of the RJD rule. We don’t wish to see that happening again,” he said.
On Prashant Kishor, he said, “At least he is speaking on things that matter, making practical poll promises, and his candidates are clean.”
However, he admitted, “the chances of his party’s victory are slim”.
On the cricket ground in Patna Science College, D K Pratap from Bettiah believes that “the NDA government has failed utterly on the fronts of education, employment, and out-migration control”.
He is banking on the INDIA bloc to solve the problems of Bihar.
Dhruv Kumar, an undergraduate student in the Geography Department of Patna College, sounded frustrated as he said, “I had come to this college with big hopes. Except for a few professors, the teaching technique of most of them is obsolete.”
“Ignorance is trickling in a top-down manner within the education system… I was considering withdrawing my admission. The local college in Rohtas, where I come from, would at least be convenient,” he said.
He said his voting decision would rest on the comparative assessment of the quality of candidates in his region.
Another Patna College student from Purnea, who refused to reveal his name, said that the “implementation of the New Education Policy is shoddy on the ground”.
He wishes to see the emergence of a young leader with new thinking “who can understand the nuances of present-day education requirements”.
Anshali Pathak, hailing from Saran, emphasised the strengthening of the basics of education and fostering civic sense and discipline which, she believes, “is possible only through the combined efforts of a suitable government and citizens”.
