Achche Din? 2 Crore Youth Apply for 1 Lakh Railway Jobs

Over 2 crore (20 million) youths have so far applied for the nearly 1 lakh jobs available in Indian Railways, according to latest estimates revealed by Railway officials. Applications are open till 31 March and the number is expected to go up even further as the usual last minute rush will occur. 

By these estimates, at least 200 persons will be competing for each of the coveted posts. This is the shocking reality of India today where relentless unemployment has dogged the economy for the past several years.

It is also exposes the hollow claims of the ruling BJP-led regime, exemplified by Prime Minister Modi’s pre-election promise of giving 2 crore jobs to youth if elected in the 2014 general election. About 2.46 crore people were added to the labour force (over 15 years age) every year through natural growth and ageing of population. Since labour participation rate is currently around 44%, about 1.15 crore of these actually seek work. But in 2017, CMIE estimates put the number of new jobs created at just 20 lakh – a mere 0.5% of the job seekers. This is the scale of joblessness that confronts India – and the Modi govt.

Massive flood of applicants for govt. jobs is nothing new in India. In 2015, some 23 lakh persons had applied for 368 jobs of peons in Uttar Pradesh. In Haryana, over 18,000 persons applied for nine posts in a court. In Rajasthan, over 12,000 persons had applied for 18 posts in the state govt. secretariat.

This desperate search for govt. jobs is the other side of the jobs crisis – jobs that are available otherwise are low paying and insecure. So, people prefer govt. jobs even if they are qualified for ‘better’ jobs because in the govt. jobs there is security of tenure and assurance of basic benefits like social security and dearness allowance.

Indian Railways is the largest single employer in India with over 13 lakh employees in 2017 as per the Annual Accounts for 2016-17. Recruitments have been languishing for the past few years, in line with a general clampdown on new appointments in the whole govt. apparatus. This was a result of the prevalent idea of restricting govt. expenditure, visible in cost cutting on diverse social welfare schemes run by the govt.

The current recruitment drive has been launched partly to counter the mounting criticism of the Modi govt. on its failure to create jobs. According to CMIE, unemployment is running at a high of over 7% and labour force participation has declined over the past year and a half. Private sector investment has been stagnant and growth of bank credit flow to industry is at an all-time low. Growth in agriculture too has stagnated or dipped in the recent past leading to widespread unrest among farmers. All these are harsh symptoms of an economy under considerable stress.

The 1 lakh jobs announced by the govt. this January consist of 26,502 posts of assistant loco pilots and technicians and 62,907 posts of group D category which include gangmen, switchmen, trackmen, cabinmen, welders, helpers and porters. About 9500 posts are for Railway Protection Force.

“A lot of applicants are overqualified and even PhD holders are applying for the technician’s job,” a Railway official reportedly said.

Recently, over 3000 apprentices of Railways had stopped Mumbai’s suburban trains protesting against their non-confirmation for jobs despite repeated assurances for four years. They lifted the blockade after receiving an assurance from the railway minister.