A speech delivered by a young Congress MLA in Kerala assembly recently has caught the imagination of the young generation of the state where migration triggered by a perceived underemployment has become the new normal.
The speech by Mathew Kuzhalnadan, who represents Muvattupuzha constituency in Ernakulam district, has attracted millions of views on social media, including Instagram. A short video of the address has got 2.5 million views from just one Instagram handle. The video has been shared by over 3.6 lakh people from the profile. Rarely does a political speech create such a storm on Instagram.
Kuzhalnadan, a first-time MLA and former state president of the All India Professionals Congress, highlighted the saddening picture of underemployment in the state and called for drastic policy changes to address the situations that force the young generation to migrate to other countries for higher education and highly-paid jobs. The speech was delivered on Wednesday during a discussion on the finance bill.
“Which section of society in Kerala is happy today? How much is the average salary the students who have completed courses including engineering and MBA are getting? I have to say it’s as meagre as Rs 10,000 to Rs 14,000. Students are dumping the campuses here. They don’t want to stay here. Why doesn’t their homeland inspire them? There are several social, economic and political reasons which have to be addressed. Instead of addressing them, we cannot blame those who leave the country,” Kuzhalnadan says in the viral speech.
Many, in social media comments, have thanked the MLA for raising the issues which are often unaddressed.
Asked about the overwhelming response to the speech, Kuzhalnadan said it reflected how deeply disappointed are the youth in the state. “We often say that the young generation is not interested in political discourses and especially assembly proceedings. However, when we mentioned an issue that affect their lives directly, their response to it is overwhelming. Such a response has motivated me to address their issues in a rigorous manner again,” he told Onmanorama.
“Policies are not framed keeping in view of the existing challenges that youngsters are facing. Policy making and legislative procedures have not been giving due consideration for the problems faced by the youth,” he said.
