Government Jobs and Elections

Government Jobs and Elections

This is election season in India. General Election 2019 for Indian Parliament's lower house Lok Sabha  (Lower House)  and Four State Legislative Assemblies (Vidhan Sabha) election being held in Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim in the month of April and May 2019 in seven 7 phases.

Even before, announcement of elections, Jobs and Employment has become a big issue. Opposition is claiming that the government is failed to provide jobs to youth and  government is claiming to provide a large number of jobs through indirect methods and direct methods.  Now, the issue of Job is having an intense debate and it has become core issue.

Understandably, this election 2019, political parties are laying thrust on the job crisis.

According to a leaked official report (denied by the government), India’s unemployment rate stood at a 45 year high at 6.1%, with youth being the most affected.

I want to  see the issue of  Job and Employment in terms of Government Jobs (Sarkari Naukri only) and I am putting here promises by BJP and Congress and other parties in respecto the Government Jobs only.

Downsizing Government Jobs

Here I would like to remind that earlier in the time of UPA-1, there was an agreement in the government that government bureaucracy size is very high and the government should downsize it. Therefore, the Government of India issued a notification to reduce it manpower up to 10% and advises its various Ministries to find our irrelevant job types and not to fill when its becomes vacant. This was followed by many state governments and this government Job policy is continued till date.

Moreover, filling up of more than 75% of vacant government vacancies are held up due to various legal cases or stays in the court of law and behind all these legal cases or stays, the NGOs or legal members of some or other political parties are involved.

I think, most political parties agree to downsize the government staff and reduce it. But they just don't say openly. They continue to blame each other but inside they agreed on downsizing.

Creating New Types of Government Jobs

As the Government  adopting new technologies to govern, there is a need for new types of manpower. More and more existing government machinery becoming irrelevant in the time of technology. For example, a post of Typist has become redundant in the time of Information Technology.  So governments in India trying to abolish old type of government jobs and governments are trying to create new types of jobs.

For example, automation is cutting old types of jobs and creating a few new types of jobs. Data Analyst, Data Centre Operation and Management, Cyber Security are some to the new requirements.

Therefore, it is normal that old economy government jobs which were providing large employment are now being abolished and not being filled while new types of jobs are created and filled.

Government Jobs before Elections

The governments in India generally and cunningly try to create a good image before election. To counter the issue of job scarcity, Government of India strategically issued and advertised a large number of New Government Jobs in the month of January, February and April 2019. Indian Railway alone came out with around 1.82 Lakh government Jobs Recruitment. Most of the other government departments published advertisement for various government jobs. State government and PSU also published Sarkari Naukri Govt. Job advertisements.

Job Promises Around Election

As General Election 2019 schedule notified by Election Commission of India, political parties started promising the sky to the jobless youths of the country. Various Political Parties have come up with their manifesto and promised to look into the job crisis the country is facing according to them.

Around elections, job seekers can demand anything and political parties are ready to promise the demand.

Job promises by Congress

Congress party has come up with Government Job filling up the idea in the manifesto for General Election 2019.

• Ensures 34 lakh jobs in the public sector by filling four lakh central government vacancies before March 2020, persuading state governments to fill 20 lakh vacancies and creating around 10 lakh new Seva Mitra positions in gram panchayats and urban local bodies.
• Fillip to the private sector by rewarding businesses for job creation, employing more women and requiring businesses with over 100 employees to implement apprenticeship programme.
• 22 Lakhs Government Jobs will be filled by March 2020
• 33% reservation to Women in Government jobs
• Will axe fees for government job exams i.e. application fee in respect to government job recruitment application will be stopped. 

Jagan Mohan Reddy in Andhra Pradesh promising 2.3 Lakh Government Jobs to Youths.

Job promises by BJP

Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) has come up with its Sankal Patra in place of Manifesto.

There is no direct reference to the Government Jobs in the BJP manifesto, Sankalp Patra. It promises to be "responsive to the needs of the aspirational middle class" and states that the party "will make all efforts to ensure that our aspirational middle class has access to education, employment opportunities and suitable urban infrastructure for a better quality life."

BJP Manifesto is saying - Jobs creating Foreign Direct Investment in all sectors is welcome, except in multi-brand retail.

Linking rural jobs schemes to assets creation.

The manifesto says, "We will aim at next-generation infrastructure which will include gas grids and water grids, i-ways, regional airports and wayside amenities along national highways. We will continue the fast pace with more and more public and private investment and efficient ground level management on the building of infrastructure further and to improve the quality of life and enhance the ease of living. In addition to ensuring efficiency in the economy, this will also lead to the creation of a large number of jobs and livelihood opportunities". Expectedly, there is a lot of focus on start-ups - perhaps the only sector, apart from infrastructure and logistics, which is creating jobs today.

Thus no direct mention of Government Jobs in BJP Manifesto.

Conclusion

I think the political parties in India, publish as many as government jobs around elections to create a goodwill image only.  They can promise anything during the election but not able to fulfill the promises once they come in power.  Since around election time government tries to drive special recruitment for government jobs, it becomes a good change for jobless youths.  Government Jobs have a direct link with the political system in India and the election process. Go cast your vote and select a political party you think can provide government jobs to eligible candidates once they come to power.