Young and jobless: key demographic weighs claims and promises of parties

“Andha kya mange, aankho ki roshni. Berojgar yuva kya mange, naukri—aur kya? (What a blind person needs is eye sight. What an unemployed youth needs is a job—what else?)” says Aaditya Kumar, 21, one of a group of youth studying on the pavement outside the newly constructed APJ Abdul Kalam Science Centre in Patna. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had, recently, inaugurated the Centre but it is yet to be opened for general people.

A few yards away, inside the Moin-ul-Haq stadium in the Rajendra Nagar area, several other young voters are also studying under the open sky, a tree, and a vapor light, adjacent to the local Kadam Kuan police station. These young voters make monthly rental payments of ₹3,000 to ₹5,500 for the dubious privilege of living in the dank, dingy rooms of lodges and hostels in the neighborhood, and come to this location every evening to study in a group for “guidance and motivation from other students”. Most are preparing to compete for government jobs. “Karo to sarkari naukari, nahi to becho tarkari (You do a government job, or otherwise sell vegetables),” a student in the corner whispers sheepishly as his friends break into peels of laughter.

In poll-bound Bihar, most young voters agree that the need for government jobs is their top priority. There are about 1.63 crore voters aged 18 to 29 years, making up 22% of the State’s electorate, of which 1.5 crore are abve 20 years. The final electoral roll released after the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) exercise included the addition of over 14 lakh first-time voters.

Competing claims

To woo this critical bloc of voters, both the ruling NDA and the Opposition alliance have been highlighting their promises on providing jobs to unemployed youths. The Nitish Kumar-led NDA government has recently claimed that it is distributing lakhs of appointment letters for jobs in different sectors, with the Chief Minister promising at several events that “one crore more jobs will be given in the future”.

On the other side of the political divide, Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav has also been trumpeting his claim of providing lakhs of jobs during the 17-months of the previous mahagathbandhan government, when he was the State’s Deputy Chief Minister. “One can imagine how many more jobs will be given when our government comes to power,” he says.

“Why is it that the employment or job issue for youth is raked up only when election season hits the State? Why is it not an issue for all the years when a government is in power?” wondered Saurabh Kumar, 23, returning from the group study.

Migration trigger

According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for the year 2021-22, the unemployment rate in Bihar is 5.9%, higher than the national average of 4.1%. For the 15-29 years age group, the unemployment rate stands at 20.1%, against the national average of 12.4%.

“Lack of employment opportunities has also pushed lakhs of migrants into leaving their native State for livelihood,” D.M. Diwakar, the former director of the Patna-based A.N. Sinha Institute of Social Sciences, told The Hindu. There has not been any “clarity in government, neither of State nor at the Centre on job creation”, he added.

Economist Sudhanshu Kumar, an Associate Professor at the Bihar Institute of Public Finance and Policy, agreed that the “employment scenario of the youth in the State has been very disturbing”. He added: “The youth of the State are mostly engaged in the informal economy and survive through subsistence self-employment or through casual jobs. In urban areas, people settle for jobs that are way below their expertise, while disguised employment is common in rural Bihar.”

Divided poll preferences

Asked to name their favorite leaders or parties for whom they intend to cast their vote, young voters appeared to be divided. Some say that a “change in regime every five years is a must”, while some voice their preference for the current Chief Minister, who is “working badhiya (well) for the State as a whole”.

Others added: “The new political entrant Prashant Kishor talks sense and raises real issue concerned with youth and people of Bihar.” Another group of youth favour the RJD leader, Mr. Yadav, as “he is young himself and he would do something concrete for our employment generation”.  

“Whoever comes to power after November 14 result day, he should give us more reservation in jobs for the youth of Bihar and implement 100% domicile policy,” said Aaditya Kumar.