Why the lack of Government jobs in India is now a major issuefor PM Modi!

Job creation should always be the top priority of central and State governments in India, but sadly that is not the case! India’s job ecosystem is at an all-time low not because Indians don’t want to work, but because the government is silent on its failure to provide jobs to the needy!

India has bounties of small and micro enterprises, but they lack the workforce that they need in order to fulfill the demands of our ever-populous country. The job creation problem is not theirs, India needs to enable its citizens enough to get hired for jobs that they want to do for themselves and earn incomes with less state expenditure, but that is a long shot! Government jobs in India are still a ‘dream’ for many because either the exam is pointless in comparison to the objectives of the actual job and the fact that there are very few jobs in the government sector of the country. Moreover, many jobs like government teacher positions are still going unfilled! Why? Find out next.

What is the problem? Why are government jobs going unfilled?

• There are many reasons for this. Firstly, small and micro enterprises are unable to hire their desired manpower because the government is unable to provide them capital loans on time. Big talks of signing MOUs with the government happen, but the red tape eats away their enthusiasm.
• Digital technology platforms and expanding communication networks are becoming a hindrance for many aspirants from small towns who are unable to cope up with these technological expertise requirements due to lack of proper training and infrastructure.
• The Central Government and State Govt. Employees Convention unanimously proclaimed that the NPS should be scrapped. The agenda behind this was to intensify a joint struggle against NPS and outsourcing forcing the government into “withdrawing contributory Pension System and stop the outsourcing of Government functions”. This is good for the future aspirants of government jobs since it demands the replacement of the Defined Contributory Pension Scheme with the Defined Benefit Pension Scheme that was applicable for government servants since a century, but the government hasn’t acted on that yet. Until they act on this, more and more aspirants will treat the PFRD Act as a hindrance to their steady progress in life.
• Reforming formal education is also a necessity which isn’t happening. We are still studying many things that we don’t need. How can reading about the conquests of the Mughals help you secure a job in a PSU? It only helps you pass the exam; it doesn’t help you get better at your job! The formal education system can be overhauled with a public-private partnership where specially crafted training modules can be developed and offered by private enterprises in conjunction with the government job requirements, but we don’t see that happening. A lot of ‘skilled’ persons are still going unemployed because there are no government jobs to fill!
• The decision of the government to promote disinvestment of public sector enterprises in India is also taking a toll on the job market. Many private players are wary of working with bureaucrats because they know that privately educated millennials are more enthusiastic at doing their jobs and they demand a lower salary too. Then, how can new government jobs be created?
• ‘Retire non-performing officers above 50’ that is what current UP CM Yogi Adityanath said when he took to power. The decision that all state government officers above the age of 50 should be compulsorily retired by July 31, 2017, for being non-performers or for facing any taint is one in good stead; another welcome decision! However, it takes years for the government to announce new jobs. What will the youth do until then?
• One of Modi government’s core campaign promises in the run-up to the 2014 Lok Sabha election was creating largejobs for the youth, but this promise has fallen flat. Quarterly employment surveys (QES) carried out by the government have revealed that the Indian job market, especially in the government sector, is shrinking! In 2015 and 2016, employment generation stood around 200,000 jobs a year which is a massive decline from the 2009-11 period when at least 950,000 jobs were created annually. Yet, the Modi government is silent on this issue!
• The SSC exam paper leak and eventual protests by the aspirants reveal that India’s government job market is a farce that is fooling millions of job seekers. In India, securing a stable and steady paying government job is the dream of many individuals, but their aspirations are getting affected by corruption. No wonder India is seeing a massive growth of startups in which youth are vying for employability. Isn’t this something the government should do? Most startups in India fail miserably. This wouldn’t happen if the government would provide them better jobs! Not everything works under privatization.
• Shutdown and disinvestment of PSUs and privatization of many loss-making state units is a welcome decision, but think of the massive government job cuts that would happen! The NDA government has seen accumulated losses of Rs 50,000 crore, a massive of Rs 55,000 crore and a failed Rs 30,000 crore bailout in 2012, yet it is setting up Air India for part-sale again after an aborted disinvestment attempt in 2001.The government’s think tank NITI Aayog has approved the sale of over 40 public sector undertakings (PSUs) and outright closure of 26 sick PSUs. Furthermore, half of India’s approximately 235 Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) are under scrutiny for a possible disinvestment. Think of the government job cuts there. No wonder the present government is failing to provide new jobs!

The government’s schemes like Make in India and Startup India are working, but at a snail’s pace. This pace is not enough to alleviate the woes of India’s formal sector which forms a bulk of government jobs. The basic root of evil is the Right to Education act. It identifies people as worthy of free education, but does not address the quality of education and doesn’t pre-polish aspirants for later employability. Furthermore. The government thinks that administrative overhauls at the state levels always take time (more than 5 years so that they can create a new mandate each time), but the very fact is that the Indian economy is facing ‘the twin balance sheet’ problem - problems faced by the Public Sector Banks are linked directly to that of the corporate sector. This means that the more governments run into debt, the lesser government jobs there will be to circumvent those losses.

The government needs to promote public-private partnership to boost employment at a national level, but the UPA and NDA’s theatrics won’t let that happen. They think that Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) is the remedy, but it is not! In a span of 20 years major automation, technological changes and geopolitical changes will shake the very core of this scheme and people will again look towards government jobs as the only solution to earn stable money.

What will the government do then?