Will unemployment be KCR’s Achilles heel?

Exam cancellations and delays have provided Opposition parties with an opportunity to target the BRS government

The palpable anger among the youth of Telangana over the lack of government job opportunities could prove to be the Achilles heel of the ruling BRS government during the November 30 Assembly elections.

Some of the ‘frustrated’ students have decided to take matters in their own hands and go up against Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao in the elections, as a mark of protest.

“I feel contesting against KCR is the best way to register my protest and bring to attention the plight of unemployed youth in the state. I actively participated in the Telangana stir and also got arrested for it. I had a dream that after the formation of Telangana, we would get government jobs. Nine and half years on, it a broken dream,” said Dasari Hribabu, an MPhil holder, who is contesting as an Independent candidate from Gajwel.

Haribabu who has been trying for Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) Group 1 and 2 exams for the last eight years is frustrated with the non-filing of government jobs and frequent cancellations, postponement and paper leaks.

Hailing from Anantharao Palle of Gajwel mandal, Haribabu called KCR outsider. After the formation of Telangana, KCR shifted from Siddipet leaving the segment to his nephew, irrigation minister, T Harish Rao to Gajwel. He won from Gajwel in 2014 and 2018 and is now trying to score a hat trick.

Mangilipalli Bhargavi, who was selected for Government Gurukul as the physical education teacher (PET) in 2017 has been waiting for a posting for the last six years. Like Haribabu, she is also contesting against KCR, but from Kamareddy. “During the 2018 polls, KTR had assured us of posting, but nothing transpired. Now, another election is upon us. Since I don’t have a job, I want to see KCR lose and that is why I am contesting against him,” Bhargavi said.

New promises

While Congress has been promising filling two lakh jobs within one year of coming to power, Industries Minister K T Rama Rao has been vocal about criticism against BRS.

He recently held a meeting with job aspirants in Ashok Nagar, a coaching hub in Hyderabad, and assured streamlining TSPSC and also creating a job calendar.

KTR said since 2014, the Telangana government has identified 2,32,308 direct vacancies and filled in 1,60,083 jobs, which is the highest for any state in India, with respect to its population.

Internet sensation

Karne Sireesha aka Barrelakka, an internet sensation, is contesting as an Independent from Kollapur in Nagarkurnool district to raise the issues. She has 5.73 lakh followers on Instagram, 1.07 lakh on Facebook and around 1.61 lakh subscribers on YouTube. Vexed with the status of unemployment in the state, she shot a video of grazing buffaloes and claimed that it was more lucrative to rear buffaloes than land a government job. The video went viral.

The Pay Revision Committee (PRC) headed by CR Biswal, constituted in July 2018 pegged the vacancies of government jobs in Telangana at 1,91,126 and mentioned that the Telangana government is working with 61% of its total staff strength when it submitted its report in December 2020.

Post this, KCR said notifications would be issued for 80,000 jobs but issued only for 30,000 jobs, most of which were for the police department.

The government’s Socio-Economic Survey 2023 claimed that the TSPSC issued 135 direct recruitment notifications for around 55,144 vacancies in the past eight years.