Ludhiana elderly cast votes with next generation’s future in mind
Elderly residents in Punjab voted for better education, job opportunities, and to address climate change and brain drain. Some opted for home voting.
In the wake of polling across the state, the elderly residents say that they voted for betterment of education, job opportunities, climate change as well as the concerning issue of brain drain.
Four years ago, a 62-year-old of Phullanwal village, Darbara Singh, retired as a government school teacher. On polling day, he said I felt disillusioned with the state of education. “My grandsons, those of my brothers and the children in the neighbourhood are all educated and yet jobless,” said Darbara.
Another resident of the same village, Baljeet Singh, 65, shared that he want a change at the Centre. Baljeet said, “Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) have had their runs. The youth is leaving their motherland in abundance. They are educated but yet there aren’t available opportunities for them. Now, we want Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to articulate the state’s voice in the parliament so we can get what we deserve.”
A 61-year-old Kuljeet Singh was worried about climate change. Kuljeet said little has been done to address the problem. “The alarming problems for the coming generations, include polluted water, shadeless concrete jungles in cities, and exploited natural resources,” Kuljeet added.
A 70-year-old taxi driver on election duty, Sukhwinder Singh said, “I want to see a change at the grassroots. I’m voting to send new voices in the parliament,” he added.
Voting from the comfort of home
As many as 908 voters, including 707 elderly (85 years and above) and 201 persons with disability (PwD) voters had opted for home voting, which was conducted earlier this week. A total of 78 teams were entrusted with the task to complete the work in two days. District election officer (DEO) Sakshi Sawhney had visited the house of the oldest home voter Kartar Kaur Dosanjh, 107, in Phase-II, Dugri and felicitated her for voting.
Kartar said that I voted for change in form of improvisation in social security system of the state. She also compared the facilities in Canada as she lived there for several years and came back in December 2021. The government should provide free medical facilities to the elderly so that they should not be dependent on anyone. Kartar added.
