Growing joblessness in India!

By M.Y.Siddiqui

Notwithstanding the Prime Minister’s (PM’s) claim of “countless job opportunities” available for youth in his Independence Day speech from the ramparts of Red Fort, data reveals otherwise. As against the earlier release on regular basis of employment and unemployment surveys by the Statistical Department of the Union Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation till 2011-12, the RSS Pariwar union government stopped the employment and unemployment surveys in 2017 and replaced it by the periodic labour force surveys (PLFS). In the Independence Day address, the PM had said that doors of opportunities are wide open for the Indian youth around the world after eluding for so many years since the Independence, countless new employment opportunities are now at their door steps. Contrary to this, his government’s union budget for 2024-25 presented in the Parliament on July 23, 2024, provided for a massive job creation, all casual, subject to market interventions with the government playing supplemental role through mudra loan, making it dependent on the attitude of public (government) banks and financial institutions.

While PM asserted that there are countless employment opportunities, several reports including the Indian employment reports of the 126 countries’ policy makers indicate increasing unemployment rate in the country among youth. A week earlier, the United Nations International Labour Organization’s (ILO’s) Global Employment Trends for Youth 2024 report said the youngsters across the world are unable to find secure work and their chances of finding a job decrease as the income level of the country they reside in decreases. Besides, the Opposition has been targeting the government over increase in unemployment rate and the unavailability of statistics on unemployment figures.

The Periodic Labour Force Surveys (PLFS) found that the unemployment rate for the educated males in rural areas, between 2004-05 and 2011-12, ranging from 3.5 percent and 4.4 percent, increased to 10.5 percent during 2017-18. Similarly, for educated rural females, unemployment rate ranged from 9.7 percent to 15.2 percent between 2004-05 and 2011-12, which increased to 17.3 percent in 2017-18. For educated males, living in urban areas, the unemployment rate ranged from 3.6 percent to 5.1 percent between 2004-05 and 2011-12, which increased to 9.2 percent during 2017-18.

Meanwhile, Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) advertisement of August 17, 2024 for 45 posts to be filled through lateral entry for mid level posts of joint secretaries, directors and deputy secretaries to be selected through interviews only on a three years contract basis has been cancelled following public pressure and massive outcry by the strident strong Opposition on August 20, 2024. This is ostensibly to seek specialists in science, technology, management, and cyber security. But such persons to be recruited are from RSS stock sought to be inducted laterally through backdoor by interviews only, thus denting reservations for SCs, STs, Other Backward Classes and the poor among the upper castes. It is a matter of common sense that if such persons are so brilliant, let them compete in the open All India Competitive Examination for Civil Services.

It is always open to the government to hire specialist consultants in different agencies in a specialist pool of diverse talents. All lateral entries of so-called specialists that encroach mainstream civil services have borne no fruit as they are drowned in the rigmarole of layers and complexities of government functioning. Hence, unable to deliver. In past, the government had inducted specialists, few in number, as rarest of the rare cases. But not at this scale. If such specialists are so bright and productive they would not join lateral entry backdoor jobs with lesser salaries than in the corporate sector. So far, 63 such appointments have been effected since 2019. Presently, 57 such officials are in different posts of joint secretary, director and deputy secretary.

According to official data, 70 percent recruits of All India Civil Services and Central Civil Services qualifying through rigorous All India Civil Services Competitive Examination annually, comprise candidates from engineering, medical and other branches of science, technology, and the rest from humanities, social sciences etc. It is in this context, such lateral entry of the so-called diverse specialists is a ploy to induct personnel from the RSS stock. Such backdoor lateral entry together with referring the Wakf Amendment Bill to a joint select committee of Parliament and withdrawal of the proposed Broadcasting Bill, which sought to throttle all together public voices and free flow of information besides making it impossible for the audacious media professionals of repute to voice diverse public issues, to put government on the mat, make it accountable to the people, has considerably mellowed the fascist as his arbitrary tyrannical suppressive authoritarian streak are being seen as partially melting down as he has begun feeling the pinch of heading a coalition government, surviving on the crutches of supporting allies. This for the time being relieves people of the harshness of a despotic dispensation. Already the Union government in the last ten years has privatized massive public entities where all the reservations quotas for SCs, STs, and Other Backward Classes have been dereserved by the private investors (owners), thus serving the agenda of the RSS, in the process subverting the Constitution.

Besides, the union budget 2024-25 is silent on filling massive vacancies in the central government, its undertakings and special purpose vehicles. PM was never clear and convincing when he said in the Independence Day speech about immense job opportunities available for the youth of India. His statement is far from ground reality. Youths are getting restive by the day and may likely burst as it happened recently in a neighboring country!  

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