It's just another day for 26-year-old Prashanth, who hails from the town of Karimnagar, as he comes down from his coaching centre in Hyderabad's Ashok Nagar area to catch a chai and samosa break in the evening. After a 15-minute break, he heads back in to continue preparing for the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) exams.
This has been his rough schedule for nearly 10 years since he decided to prepare for these exams back in 2014. But, Prashant is yet to get a state government job. Not because he hasn't cleared the exams, but the exams have either been cancelled or have gotten struck down due to paper leaks or violation of norms.
Like Prashant, thousands of students, especially from smaller towns, congregate here as they prepare for competitive exams for state government jobs. During these tea breaks, the point of discussion amidst most of them is the same: What will happen about the Group 1, Group 2 exams? What if it gets cancelled or postponed again? Are we studying in vain? Why has the government been lax about these postponements or cancellations?
The latest Periodic Labour Force Survey Annual Report puts Telangana's unemployment rate in the age group of 15-29 years at 15.1 percent — much higher than the all-India average of 10 percent.
There is palpable anger among the youth of Telangana over lack of state government job opportunities and with elections just around the corner, this has become a major poll issue.
Why is Telangana's youth angry?
The promise of jobs like these was one of the main premises over which the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (formerly Telangana Rashtra Samithi ), alongside several students, fought for the formation of Telangana.
Formed in 2014, TSPSC is the agency whose main role is to conduct these exams and candidates into various state public services. TSPSC exams are held for posts like that of a deputy collector, commercial tax officer, district registrars in Group-1 and tahsildars, and assistant registrars, among others in Group 2 across various state departments.
However, the preliminary exam was conducted only in October 2022 for 503 Group 1 posts. Nearly three lakh students had appeared of which 25,000 students cleared this exam and began preparing for the main examination scheduled for June 5.
"I entered this field of exams in 2014 after Telangana was established, till now there haven't been any Group 1 notifications, Group 2 notifications have been getting delayed. It costs us a minimum of Rs 10,000-15,000 a month on an average to live here if a student has to eat decent food. So no food, no bed, and no matter how much we study, there's no result," Prashant says.
However, the preliminary exam was cancelled in March 2023 due to a paper leak along with two other recruitment examinations held in March. Following this, a Special Investigation Team (SIT) findings and internal inquiries led to arrests and the exam being rescheduled for June 11, 2023.
However, the June 11 exam was also in September 2023 cancelled after the National Students Union of India (NSUI) moved Telangana HC raising concerns over the conduct of the exam as no biometric was arranged.
"I cleared prelims and was studying for finals when they cancelled the prelims. We spend a lot of money to take coaching here, but the exams being struck down twice has been a huge loss for me," another aspirant Upendra told CNBC-TV18.
The BRS, however, has maintained that it has created more jobs than it had promised. BRS Leader Krishank Manne told CNBC-TV18 that the government, till 2020, completed 1,32,899 jobs. "Now we've given notifications to recruit 2,30,000 and 1,60,000 have been recruited," he added.
What do the students want?
For starters, students say there has to be a proper job calendar released at regular intervals, which lists out schedules of exams and vacancies. With many students quitting their jobs to prepare for these competitive exams, students also want the government to give them a monthly allowance, something the KCR government promised during the 2018 polls, but failed to deliver.
Aspirant Prashanth adds that there also needs to be better library facilities for students to be able to study, along with better food quality being offered.
Ubaid Khan, another aspirant, adds that be it the job calendar, or just the conduct of the exams, better transparency and a more organised way of doing things is required.
Telangana Elections: The Youth Factor
With elections just around the corner, this has become a talking point for both the BJP and the Congress. Both have time and again pointed out this failure to provide employment, promising to address this should they come to power.
The Congress, as part of its poll promise, has promised to fill 2 lakh job vacancies within a year of forming the government along with issuing job notifications from February 1 and completing the process by December 2024.
The BJP, too, has said that it will fill the job vacancies and, in its manifesto, said that the TSPSC exams will be conducted every six months and that it will release a job calendar every year. In a recent media address in the state, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman also pointed out that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao's 2018 poll promise of an unemployment allowance of Rs 3,016 has also remained unfulfilled.
The BRS government has also recognised the discontent among the youth. Working President KT Rama Rao has on various occasions during campaigning, admitted to shortcomings when it comes to the TSPSC commission. The BRS has promised a job calendar should they return to power along with a complete overhaul of the TSPSC commission.
More recently, KTR met with a group of TSPSC aspirants from Ashok Nagar to hear out their concerns. Through the discussion, he promised them that should they return to power, he will visit Ashok Nagar with the concerned officials on December 4, have a discussion with the students to understand what exactly they need and accordingly release a job calender based on their feedback. He also said that they will increase the number of posts under Group 2 to 1,000.
But experts say rising anger among the youth over unemployment, and the fact that their frustration is shared by entire families, who are also voters could prove a big factor in the 2023 elections.
While some students are hopeful BRS will fulfil its promise this time at least, some say they have lost faith in the current party and a change in government is the only way some change and progress happen on this front.
But most aspirants say, it doesn't matter who comes to power. Since BRS, BJP and Congress have all made tall promises to fill the two lakh vacant posts, they just hope that whichever party forms the government after December 3, stands by its promise to the youth of the state, and give them jobs.
Also Read:Telangana Election 2023: Congress unveils manifesto, promises free e-scooters for women students
(Edited by : Sangam Singh)
First Published: Nov 23, 2023 10:27 PM IST
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