As I see it, the political playing field needs an overhaul to keep promises and actions in check. This brings me to my wish list, my dreams of radical change to improve the way government runs. I wish to exercise my franchise according to my conscience. Anyway, it is a secret ballot but my wish list is an open page.
It is economy at the top. Becoming a front runner with export competitiveness, increase in productivity, my INR being valued in the club of ruling currency basket, being harder by the day, tops my chart.
My polity must throw up conscious citizens, my men and women must strike their own deals, not be a lackey to any internal/external pressure. My country must move many notches in the transparency index to be in the top bracket.
My society is liberal and tolerant; throw up thought leaders to command respect, bend the world the way Swami Vivekananda did in Chicago in 1893.
My institutions must be independent, not surrender to the might of power or money. My regulators speak the way they want, to defend the larger public interest.
My men and women think out of the box to battle with ideas. My Science and Technology will blaze the trail for everyone to look agape.
My Country will be one “Where the mind is without fear”.
Young and restless, anxious and ambitious, first-time voters in urban India are going into this election with a clear vision for the country’s future and say they expect political leaders to focus on real issues such as jobs, women’s safety, and farmer distress. Spending on statues should stop forthwith. We would like to have a peaceful living as we are enjoying at present. They may be disparate in their life goals and choices of career but are one in reflecting the angst of the young and their hopes for a better tomorrow, many of them saying the country’s resources and energies must not be spent force and we should prevent brain drain by providing best opportunities for getting the best jobs within India.
As the youngsters feel that the Statue of Unity was not needed at all, given the poverty in the country and the joblessness. That same Rs 3,000 crore could have been used for other projects that would have benefited the youth and the country. Of course, there are confused minds as well. But seniors and pensioners should be given free medical benefit and tax benefit. Sportsmen and sportswomen should be given priority.
We don’t feel inspired by any particular party. All parties have their own issues but it is our right to elect a party to power. A good job, political stability and peaceful environment are on the wish-list. If the wish list if taken together will build a great nation and we wish the newly elected government achieve all our ambitions with the right spirit. Give tax credits to all parents and subsidise parents who stay home to raise their babies to school-age if one must also subsidize daycare. However, give a parent an opportunity to stay home with a child. You can’t deny that parents are best suited to raise their own children and a parent, who quits a job to stay home, has just created a new job for someone else.
These are just some of the things I wish for. I’ll stop whining if I could at least get a balanced budget. I could be waiting for a long time.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
