Bihar: A wake-up call from India’s youth

The violent protests that took place in UP and Bihar against the Railways’ recruitment process are a sign of the rising anxieties in the country over unemployment. The protests are continuing in Bihar and a bandh has been called. Though the grievance of the protesters is mainly about the recruitment procedure and the alleged irregularities in the conduct of a test held by the Railways, the real issue is the lack of jobs in the economy. The tests are being held for non-technical popular categories of posts which have always invoked much interest in UP and Bihar. The demand for the jobs can be seen from the fact that about 1.25 crore candidates, which is about one out of every 100 Indians, applied for 35,281 jobs. One main demand of the protesters is that candidates with higher qualifications should not be allowed to compete for jobs that demand lower qualifications.

Of all the serious problems faced by the economy, unemployment is the most serious. It has social as well as economic consequences. It is not just the Covid effect on jobs. There have been bleak signals from the employment scene ever since demonetisation. The National Sample Survey Office had reported – but the government did not make it public until after the 2019 elections – that in 2017-18, India’s unemployment rate was 6.1%, the highest since 1972-73. That situation only worsened with the pandemic. According to the CMIE’s estimates, labour market participation has fallen to about 40%. With joblessness rising, employment rate at the national level fell from 43% in December 2016 to 37% in December 2021. The fall has been sharper in UP. Large numbers of people have dropped out of the job market, and not many fresh jobs have been created. There is also a shift from regular jobs to casual jobs, which affects the wages, welfare and job security of workers.

The job situation has naturally affected the youth more than others. The situation in states like Bihar and UP is more serious because job opportunities are fewer there, and job aspirants -- especially the young -- more. The concern and the unrest seen in these states should open the eyes of the government. The Narendra Modi government came to power in 2014 promising development, jobs and increase in the incomes of people. Its record speaks of a massive failure in this regard. The annual income of the poorest 20% households dropped by 53% between 2015-16 and 2020-21 even as the income of the richest segment rose by about 40%. The job situation is the worst among the low-skilled population, and the Bihar and UP protests show that.