The Verdict: What is their fault? India’s broken government recruitment system is failing its youth

By Shreya Upadhyaya

I begin with a question: What is their fault? Look at Jharkhand. An exam is cancelled, recruitment is investigated right from 2014 and suddenly, even candidates who cleared the exam and got themselves a government job, face uncertainty. Now look at Bihar. Young aspirants who want to become teachers have been on the streets, demanding something as basic as a recruitment notification. Seriously? Is it that difficult? They are not asking for charity. They are asking authorities to tell them when, or even whether they will get a chance, to compete for a job.

Why should job aspirants suffer because of the corruption and inefficiency of the system? India has a youth population that should be its greatest economic advantage. Instead, for millions of young indians, the path to securing their future has become an endless cycle of leaked exams, cancellations, delays and job uncertainty, irrespective of the party ruling the state or centre. We have created a system where a young person can spend years preparing for one government exam, clear the exam and still not know whether they will get the job.

India needs a fundamental shift. First: better schools and colleges, with basic infrastructure and no teacher shortages. Second: employability must become a national priority. Every university and college should be judged by what its graduates can actually do, not the number of students getting degrees. Why is there still a gap between what we study and what we do in the same sector? Third: government recruitment must become transparent and time-bound. Don't end up putting the future of innocent candidates in uncertainty.

Our youngsters don't lack ambition. They lack a system that matches their ambition. And if India has to sustain itself as a stable powerful economy, which can compete with other countries, it must rectify the system that is pulling it down.