Since 2014, just 0.33% of those who applied for Central govt jobs got them: Data

The Centre’s obstinate refusal to concede to the Opposition’s demand for an immediate debate on price rise and hike in GST rates may has stalled Parliament proceedings since the monsoon session began on July 18. However, the stalemate hasn’t stopped uncomfortable home truths for the Narendra Modi government from stumbling out of its closets.

On Wednesday, an unstarred question by Anumula Revanth Reddy, Congress MP from Telangana’s Malkajgiri constituency, directed at the Prime Minister himself, elicited a response that confirms the Opposition’s repeated claims about the Centre’s failure in optimising recruitment for government jobs.

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“Will the Prime Minister be pleased to state details, including the number of people who got permanent jobs in different central government department since 2014, year-wise ?” Reddy had asked in his question to the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, that falls directly under Modi’s command. The Malkajgiri MP had also asked the PM to give “details of the total number of applications received for different Central Government jobs since 2014”.

Though the response to Reddy’s questions did not come directly from Modi, it was still an embarrassing disclosure for the government to make as the data furnished by the ministry painted a grim image not only of the growing desperation among India’s jobless youth but also of the government’s failure in mitigating it.

No of applications received for jobs in Central govt departments since 2014 

No of candidates recommended by recruiting agencies for appointment in Central govt departments since 2014 

Responding to Reddy’s question, Jitendra Singh, junior minister for Personnel and Minister of State in the PMO, informed Parliament that while a staggering 22.05 crore applications had been received by the Centre since 2014 for different Central government jobs, the actual number of candidates recommended for recruitment stood woefully short at just over 7.22 lakh.

Job seekers and givers

The massive difference between the number of applications received by the Centre for recruitment to various jobs under the Central government pool confirms yet again that despite Modi’s oft-repeated claim of creating an environment wherein ‘job seekers have become job givers’ there has been no significant decline in India’s traditional fondness for a sarkari naukri (government job). The data provided by Singh also shows the government’s ineptness in responding to the deepening crisis of unemployment in the country.

The current session of Parliament has seen several MPs, cutting across their individual party affiliations, repeatedly seek answers from the Centre on the question of job creation and growing unemployment. The Centre’s admission of being able to provide just 7.22 lakh jobs in the past eight years also punches a huge hole in Modi’s tall poll promise made during his 2014 Lok Sabha poll campaign of providing two crore jobs annually – or even delivering on the more conservative iterations of this promise made by him in subsequent years.

Also read: What unemployment? Centre says jobs on the rise

The data furnished by the Ministry of Personnel suggests a continuing trend of disproportionately high number of applications being received by the Centre against finite avenues for recruitment. What is arguably even more significant about the disclosure is the fact that it comes at a time when the Centre has stridently denied accusations by the Opposition of a growing crisis of joblessness in the country.

State of unemployement

On July 18, the first day of the ongoing monsoon session, some half a dozen MPs had submitted questions to the government seeking its response on various aspects of unemployment in the country.

As reported by The Federal on July 18, Trinamool Congress MP Deepak Adhikari ‘Dev’ and Shiv Sena MPs Krupal Tumane and Pawan Rajenimbalkar had asked the government whether it is aware that “more than 1.5 million people have lost their jobs during the last two or three months in the organised and unorganised sectors due to which the rate of unemployment in rural and urban India has increased”.

Noting that the “rate of unemployment has reached alarming levels in the country”, the three MPs had asked the Centre to provide India’s unemployment data of the past three years.

In a written reply submitted before the Lok Sabha, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Rameshwar Teli had then provided data from the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation’s annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) report and the year-wise estimated Worker Population Ratio (WPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR) to claim India’s “unemployment rate has declined whereas the worker population ratio has increased during the year 2020-21 as compared to previous years”.

Singh’s response to Reddy, on Wednesday, also waxed eloquent on the several initiatives for job creation and recruitment that were being undertaken under the Modi regime even though the data provided by him would suggest that these haven’t alleviated the unemployment crisis in any tangible way.

“Employment generation coupled with improving employability is the priority of the Government… Budget 2021-22 launched Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes, with an outlay of Rs. 1.97 lakh crore, for a period of 5 years starting from 2021-22. The PLI Schemes being implemented by the Government have potential for creating 60 lakh new jobs… Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana (PMMY) is being implemented by the Government for facilitating self-employment. Under PMMY, collateral free loans upto Rs. 10 lakh, are extended to micro/small business enterprises and to individuals to enable them to setup or expand their business activities,” Singh said in his written response to Reddy.

Though he may have had little to show in terms of what the government had actually achieved in terms of offering employment, the junior minister for personnel painted a rosy future for job seeking youth, if only they embraced Modi’s mantra of being ‘atmanirbhar’ (self-dependent).

Also read: India’s unemployment rate rises to 7.8% in April; Haryana tops list: CMIE

“Government is implementing Prime Minister Street Vendor’s AtmaNirbhar Nidhi since June 01, 2020 to facilitate collateral free working capital loan to street vendors to restart their businesses, which were adversely impacted during the Covid-19 pandemic. The Aatmanirbhar Bharat Rojgar Yojana (ABRY) has been launched… to incentivize employers for creation of new employment and restoration of loss of employment during Covid-19 pandemic… As on July 13, benefits have been provided to 59.54 lakh beneficiaries out of which 53.23 lakh beneficiaries have joined as new joinees,” Singh claimed.