Establishment of factories to create jobs, strengthening a "decaying" education and health system, and rejuvenating the "cursed Falgu river" are some of the demands of young voters in Bihar's Gaya Lok Sabha constituency, which goes to polls next week.
Several youths, including first time voters, from the constituency's rural and urban areas also alleged that growth of Gaya has been stymied due to administrative apathy and corruption, and wanted lawmakers, who will be elected, to address the issue.
Gaya, located about 100 km from state capital Patna, is among the Lok Sabha constituencies where elections will be held in the first phase of the polls on April 11.
Ahead of the polling in this reserved (SC) parliamentary seat, the anxiety and worries of the young population is palpable, but many are also articulate about the expectations they have from the candidates and the next government to be elected.
Kaushal Kishor, 20, a native of Tekari, near Gaya town, hawks books on Maths tricks on Patna-Gaya passenger trains in the morning to support his widowed mother and 18-year-old brother.
A student of S N Sinha College in Tekari town, the seat of the eponymous erstwhile Zemindari Raj, he, said, "I shuttle between Patna and Gaya in morning passenger trains twice a week to earn some money by selling books to commuters. I belong to a poor family, and I also coach school students in mathematics to supplement my income."
Shiv Shankar Kumar, 19, pursuing an undergraduate course in Economics at the Anugrah Memorial College, said, "I might be pleased with the leadership in the Centre, but what has Gaya gained so far. We will soon be graduating and if there are no jobs at home, we will be forced to migrate. So, employment generation is the main issue for me in this election."