More jobs and lower cost of living — these two issues of primary concern may determine whom the women of Kolkata will vote for this election, irrespective of the ideology or party they may support or oppose in private or on social media.
No matter what their social strata or background, employment and inflation seem to be on top of most minds, pushing aside more commonly discussed issues, including religious discrimination, and corruption.
“I want my participation in the electoral process to shape policies that will bring about more opportunities for the career advancement of women; arrest the skyrocketing inflation which is a major concern, particularly in education and healthcare; ensure safety for women in public places,” Anuradha Mitra, a business owner, said.
“The other issues on my mind are proper urban planning and development — good roads, cleanliness, and basic amenities like water and sanitation,” she said.
Bisakha, who works as a cook in a few households in south Kolkata, wants the party she will vote for to get employment for her son. “There are hardly any jobs, except as a delivery agent for Swiggy or Blinkit,” she said, adding, “I also want better facilities in government hospitals. My husband recently had a stroke and in spite of the Swasthya Saathi insurance, we had a long wait for simple tests because of which I had to go to a private hospital.”
“Women are deemed as the economic backbone of a family structure, and today it is growing more and more difficult for us to maintain the balance between need and supply. Like tumbling dominos, we are hit because vendors refuse to give us vegetables and fruits in the same price they used to even a quarter of a year back,” Shreya Mukherjee, a homemaker who divides her time between Kolkata and Hyderabad, said.
Other issues on her mind are better transport, safety, and lack of employment. “Keeping the already jobless aside, there is a fresh round of jobless people thanks to a scam. I will come and cast my vote, believing perhaps in the bigger wheel of happenings. My vote might knock and wake my city and bring around the changes I badly wish to see,” Ms. Mukherjee said.
Very few people, Bengali writer-editor Damayanti Dasgupta among them, expressed concern over political ideology affecting the social fabric of the country. “We have seen social workers, human rights activists, lawyers, journalists, professors, student leaders, environmentalists, all have been put behind the bars for an indefinite period. Who knows, if the results are the same as the past two elections, even what we publish might have to go through a censor board. Who knows, there might be no election every five years,” Ms. Dasgupta said.
But “job opportunities” and “spiralling expenses” clearly override all other concerns in the City of Joy, no matter what election speeches and the noise on social media may be about.
“I simply want a better Kolkata,” Suparna Saha, a banker, said. “Professionally, it should be competitive, more corporates should move to the city to create more job opportunities. Professional women our age, in their late forties or early fifties, who cannot relocate to other cities, need more avenues for growth.”
