Hyderabad: IT employees believe more in tweeting than in voting, which is evident from their indifference in turning up at the voting booths and picking the candidate who can bring about change. This is apparent from the voter turnout in the recent elections in Bengaluru, the 2016 GHMC elections or the 2014 general elections in Hyderabad.
A dip stick survey conducted by Deccan Chronicle has found that 59.7 per cent of respondents had not registered as voters. Of these, only six per cent were planning to register in Hyderabad. But 54.5 per cent of the respondents had raised their voices on civic issues.
To a question in the survey about how they were giving back to society, 89.8 per cent of the respondents said that they paid their taxes. Only 13.6 per cent said that they involved themselves in community service.
The survey covered 67 respondents, mostly software engineers working in Hyderabad.
The response to the survey shows that fewer people turn out to vote than are complaining about amenities.
A quick look at the GHMC online handles shows that most of the complaints come from the residents of West Zone that is densely populated by IT. Most of them claim that they are giving back to society by paying taxes and few are doing community service. Mr Srini Raj, an IT employee who went to his hometown in AP to cast his vote in the 2014 elections, said. “Some of them do not vote in Hyderabad, that doesn’t mean they cannot complain about the lack of civic amenities. It is important to vote, but then we pay all the taxes. So denying better infrastructure or curtailing voices just because of lower voter turnout is unwarranted”.
However, only 39.7 per cent of respondents to the survey said they went to their hometowns to cast their vote. Furthermore, techies often do not register because they keep switching jobs and there is uncertainty about their location as they want to go to for better-paying jobs.
Another techie, on condition of anonymity, said, “I did not go to my hometown in Madhya Pradesh to cast my vote. To go back and return in a day is not feasible. But I did raise complaints with the GHMC for fixing potholes in Kondapur. I was out of the country for some time and thought I would settle there. When there is such uncertainty with the location of work, registering here and failing to vote is better than maintaining status quo”.
There is certainly lack of responsibility as most of them go away to their home towns on polling days, even if they are registered voters.
Mr Sandeep Kumar Makthala said, “If the polling falls over the weekend, most of them tend to go away. Yet the voter enrolment has increased in IT areas because having the voter ID card is not a responsibility but is seen as an address proof. In Bengaluru, voting was on a weekend and lot of them just went home”.
It is not only on which day the election falls. In some companies the holidays are often namesakes.
Techie P. Bhargavi said, “I am a native of Hyderabad, but couldn’t vote in the GHMC elections because of the short duration. I am in a group which offers 24x7 service, and two hours or half a day for voting does not suffice for me when I have to travel all the way from LB Nagar to Miyapur. Then there is the problem of pick-up and drop of cabs and we are not even the given work-from-home option. I wanted to cast my vote, but I was holding a double edge sword. Work and community, both are important for me.”
Taking the side of techies, Mr Bharani Kumar Aroll said, “Responsibility of techies towards vote is not encouraged in Hyderabad. But they are doing their bit at the individual level by participating in corporate social responsibility activities. They participate in several drives, marathons, blood donation campaigns and teach in schools. We could mobilise several techies for tree plantations. People who cannot volunteer in person tend to donate a part of their salary to NGOs.”
However it is imperative for techies of both Hyderabad and Bengaluru who are coming from different parts of the country to know the value of their vote. With four lakh techies in Hyderabad and 20 lakh in Karnataka, they could easily create huge impact on the elections and change political equations
“Techies are not greedy about money, so politicians do not try to woo them or convince them to vote. But they are the real voters because for them good roads are more important to reach office than the money that a politician can offer. They witness clean offices and expect the same to reflect in their surroundings. Consequently they tend to be more vocal about the issues”, said Mr Makthala.
