Any opportunity to earn a few extra bucks is welcomed by Delhi’s youth. So whether it’s working during an international event like Commonwealth Games or expos or fairs or elections, they’re game. Many college students have been making the most of the run-up to the MCD polls by campaigning for candidates contesting in the elections.
Uday Bharadwaj, a theatre student of Shri Ram Centre, has been performing street plays in the Paharganj area for the Congress candidate contesting from Ward no. 89. He says that for the last five days he has been travelling with a group of five people to all the lanes that come under the ward with a nukkad natak making people aware about the problems in the area and asking them to vote for the candidate. “I am a pro at nukkad natak. We do it throughout the year, either for an organisation or other groups but the payment we get is very meager. Most of the time, the person who gets us the job gets a share from the payment. But while campaigning for the MCD elections, we have a free hand, and thus a chance to earn more. We made around `800 to `1,000 per day,” says Uday.
Some youngsters are making the most of the situation. Sachin Kumar, a correspondence student of B.Com who works with the theatre group On Camera Media, campaigned not for one but many candidates. However, he remains loyal to Congress. He says that the job they have been doing for the last few days involves a lot of hard work. “When we perform a play in front of a crowd, we can’t fool them with wrong information. We have to do our homework beforehand about the problems in the area and what solution the candidate is offering. It’s hectic but what we earn lets us sit and relax for some days,” says Sachin, refusing to reveal how much he earned during the polls.
Apart from performing plays, some youngsters earned money by organising rallies, distributing pamphlets or sometimes just being a part of the crowd at rallies. Besides remuneration, at times there’s the added perk of freebies — like a free meal at a good restaurant.
Two Class 12 students of a government school tell us (on condition of anonymity) that they joined the campaigns of all the candidates in their area (Mayur Vihar) to earn extra bucks. “Joining the rally for an hour or two earned us `100 to `150. Bringing more people to add to the crowd fetched us extra,” say the boys, who on some days even made `800 by becoming a part of five-six campaigns throughout the day.
Rohit Kumar, a second year student of Delhi University who has been actively involved in politics since his initial days in college and even wants to pursue it further, says that he works with many politicians just because he has developed a personal relationship with them over the years and wants to maintain it. “Politicians support us and also campaign for us during college elections. We do the same when they are contesting. It’s mutual. At times we even request other college students from across Delhi to participate in the rally,” he says.
Deepak Kumar, another student interested in politics, adds, “We rope in other students, and sometimes we pay them, and sometimes just a treat of a meal or a few drinks is more than enough.” He concludes by saying that elections are a good time for college students to make the acquaintance of politicians and build a relationship if they want to pursue politics in the future.