Not many jobs, youth angry in Telangana

The younger generation not just fuelled the Telangana movement from 2009 to 2014 but were also instrumental in propelling the TRS into power in India’s youngest state.

This influential section is now deeply distraught that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao did not deliver on his promise of employment generation.

From urban Hyderabad to semi-urban Karimnagar and Warangal to rural Gajwel, youngsters rue how the first democratically-elected government in Telangana, which attained power on the promise of ‘Neellu, Nidhulu, Niyaamakaalu (water, funds and jobs), has reneged on its promise.

The younger lot could prove to be the biggest nemesis of KCR and his government if they vent their anger by not pressing the EVM button against the name of his party nominees. The tales of the youngsters is that of dejection and frustration at not being able to land jobs that match their professional qualification.

“KCR promised to generate 1 lakh jobs in government sector and also job for every family in the state of Telangana. Though 4.5 years have passed, only 30,000 jobs have been filled,” P Lakshman, a M.Sc (Chemistry) graduate, told DH at Osmania University.

Lakshman, who passed out with a first class grade, is jobless since he completed his post graduation in 2017. Take the case of Shanoor Baba from Nalgonda, who also completed M.Sc (Chemistry) from Osmania. He has taken up a private job that pays him a paltry Rs 10,000 a month.

He's not Nizam

Though the government says it has notified vacancies for 87,346 jobs, selection process has been completed only for 32,681 posts. At the Osmania and Kakatiya Universities, the epicentres of the Telangana movement in Hyderabad and Warangal respectively, students compared KCR’s regime with that of the former Nizams.

“He thinks he is the Nizam and that he does not owe an answer to anyone. We will remind him that he is a democratically elected leader and not the Nizam,” A Dilip, pursuing his M.Sc in Geology in Kakatiya University, told DH.

Many accuse the Telangana State Public Service Commission of withholding the results of exams conducted for several posts.

“My wife, a B.Tech graduate, applied for the posts of panchayat secretary and Village Revenue Officer. It has been months since she wrote the exam but results have not yet been declared. No one in the government has any answer for the delay,” Vamsi, who helps his brother in their electronics shop in Karimnagar, said.

Vamsi has also applied for the post of driver in the government sector but has not got any response so far.

Dr K Rajesh, an Osmania alumnus who now works as a part-time lecturer at PG College in Secunderabad, says his dream of landing a permanent job as professor is still unfulfilled.

Feel betrayed

“The subaltern communities believed in KCR that he would uphold self-respect of Telangana people and light up our lives by generating more jobs and boosting agriculture growth. We feel betrayed and it seems he used the agitation of the students to further his political interests,” he said.