Hoping to bring social and political change in the state, Youth Collective, an organisation made up of more than 50 youth groups from Tamil Nadu, is all set to contest in over 115 constituencies in the upcoming assembly polls.
According to the outfit, corruption is a major problem in the state. “There is a lot of corruption in the state. To win the elections itself, each candidate spends about two to three crores then they come to power and loot the state. If Rs. 100 is kept aside for people’s welfare in that only Rs. 25 goes to people, the rest is taken away by the politicians,” says Sankar Jenerthnan, (32), one of the founders of the group and an IT professional.
“We are fed up of politics and politicians. Now, we want clean politicians so we have decided to contest the elections,” says Sankar.
Sankar feels that only youth can bring about change in society. “We want our candidates to be role models for people in the society. They should want more of such leaders,” says Sankar.
One of the main requirements to be a candidate for the Youth Collective is that the individual should be not be an alcoholic or a smoker.
The organisation’s members are from different fields - from pilots, lawyers and teachers to engineers and a media person. For now, it’s not about winning the electoral race but making a beginning. “We want to begin the change in the state. We just want to sow a seed,” he says.
What do you want to do for the people? “Even though other parties are talking about prohibition of liquor, we would like to provide free and quality education to all the children in the state, other than that corruption- free government” he states.
Talking about their election campaign, they will be focusing more on using social media to canvas votes. “We will be targeting first and second time voters in the state for this election,” he points out.
The party is also planning to make short films, awareness videos and run campaigns on social media. “College students will be helping us in our campaigns,” Sankar says.
Youth Collective was started in December 2015. In the past, the organization has planted trees, cleaned beaches and even provided relief materials during Chennai floods.
“If we win at least two to three constituencies that will be enough for us to bring about change,” Sankar says optimistically.