Youth Absent in Rural Election Campaigning as Employment Drives Migration in Surkhet

Surkhet. As the House of Representatives election scheduled for Falgun 21 approaches, election campaigning is intensifying in villages and towns. Political parties and candidates have reached every village to seek votes.

Political parties and their candidates are busy campaigning in every village. However, young voters are scarce in the villages. Lokendra Singhraj Thapa from Chaukune Rural Municipality-5 in Surkhet stated that there are few young people in the village currently.

He said, "Youth here come to the village during the farming season and festival times; at other times, they go to India for employment."

He demanded that an environment for employment be created in the villages, noting that although the election atmosphere has increased, the voters are mostly women and the elderly.

Sitadevi Nepali from the same Chaukune Rural Municipality also said that there are few young voters in the village. She stated that the situation of how to earn a livelihood, rather than politics, forces the youth to migrate abroad.

Narbahadur Bastola, Vice-Chairman of Surkhet's Chaukune Rural Municipality, mentioned that even though self-employment programs are being run, the youth do not stay in the village. Not just Surkhet, but most youth in Karnali go to India for employment. Recently, they have also started going to countries other than India.