In 2020, jobs were central to poll discourse in Bihar. RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s promise of 10 lakh government jobs at the first Cabinet meeting found favour with the youth, forcing NDA to announce creation of 20 lakh jobs.
Five years later, despite the big announcements by both the government and Opposition, the issue of jobs is not cutting ice with Bihar’s Gen Z. In the past five years, Bihar witnessed student protests over recruitment examination cancellations, paper leaks, and clashes between students and police on several occasions.
This time, Tejashwi Yadav has promised one government job in each family if his party comes to power. NDA has promised 2 crore government jobs in the coming five years and bigger promises of job creation and entrepreneurship through new investments in the state. Yet, there is resentment among the youth, and they are reluctant to accept these promises at face value.
Around 3.78 crore of the 7.43 crore voters in Bihar are between 20 and 40 years, accounting for 51% of voters. Their simmering anger is a sign of trouble for whoever forms the state government.
The bylanes of Mahendru, Patna, is a hub of coaching centres where students prepare for government jobs. Arun Gupta (34) is a B.Tech from MIT Muzaffarpur, a government engineering college. Gupta could have got a job in the private sector outside the state. “Government job is a government job,” said Gupta, aresident of Goriakothi in Siwan, who is preparing for a government teacher’s job. “The government has completed Teacher Recruitment Examination 3 (TRE3) and announced TRE4 almost a year ago. We are still waiting. We want a change but who is there? All are same,” Gupta has also appeared once for the Bihar Public Service Commission Mains.
His friend Manish Yadav from Baikunthpur, Gopalganj, has come to Patna to appear for the Bihar Secondary Teacher Eligibility Test (BSTET) and says that the promises are hollow. “Just ask those promising crores of jobs what they have done in the past five years?” Yadav is a B.Tech from SRM University in NCR.
Abhishek Kumar (25) from Purnia, who is preparing for BPSC, said: “All the parties have now learnt to use jumla during elections. Tejashwi Yadav is saying one government job per family. I want to ask him what the criteria will be? The li- teracy rate among SCs/ STs is less than 10%. In Purnia, female literacy rate is 51%. What kind of jobs are you planning to give to the illiterate families,” he asks.
“We don’t want 2 crore jobs as promised by NDA. But at least ensure timely and leak-proof examinations. We are not from well-off families and cannot study professional courses outside the state. Government jobs are the only option,” Vikas Kumar from Beldaur, Khagaria, told ET . Kumar runs his Uber Bike for three to four hours every day to meet the expense of living in Patna, which is around ₹9,000 per month.
Vikas says in his village, women are happy about the ₹10,000 given to them and they will vote for NDA. As per government data, in the last five years, 9,68,000 government jobs have beengiven to the people here.
Vivek Mandal and Sajjan Kumar Jha, both in their late 20s, are having tea at a roadside stall near Darbhanga town. Mandal and Jha work with Swatantra Microfinance as agents. Their monthly salary is ₹18,000 plus incentive based on business. “We tried for government jobs, but gave up. There is no good MBA institute here and we didn’t have the money to go for further studies to Delhi and other places. There are limited job options for simple graduates like us,” Mandal told ET .
“We are tired of this government. Last time, we saw some hope in Tejashwi Yadav but this time he is making promises like NDA. We have no options,” Jha, hailing from Rupauli assembly told ET . Both have decided not to go to their homes to vote.
Sonam Kumari (25) from Muzaffarpur has once cleared BPSC Mains examination and is preparing for the second time. “The domicile policy and 35% reservation for women are going to help us a lot. Nitish Kumar has done a lot for women,” she says. Standing with her is Ajeet Kumar from Jamui. “The women have got reservations. ₹10,000 has been given to them. What have we boys got?” he says. “When we were protesting earlier this year, Jan Suraj leader Prashant Kishor came to support us. We saw some hope in him. But as elections started, he was nowhere,” he laments.
Praveen Choudhary who works in Reliance Retail and hails from Keoti in Darbhanga says: “Some are promising one government job per house, some are offering 2 crore jobs and some are saying factories. No one is serious and only wants votes.”
The message from Gen Z is loud and clear.
Five years later, despite the big announcements by both the government and Opposition, the issue of jobs is not cutting ice with Bihar’s Gen Z. In the past five years, Bihar witnessed student protests over recruitment examination cancellations, paper leaks, and clashes between students and police on several occasions.
This time, Tejashwi Yadav has promised one government job in each family if his party comes to power. NDA has promised 2 crore government jobs in the coming five years and bigger promises of job creation and entrepreneurship through new investments in the state. Yet, there is resentment among the youth, and they are reluctant to accept these promises at face value.
Around 3.78 crore of the 7.43 crore voters in Bihar are between 20 and 40 years, accounting for 51% of voters. Their simmering anger is a sign of trouble for whoever forms the state government.
The bylanes of Mahendru, Patna, is a hub of coaching centres where students prepare for government jobs. Arun Gupta (34) is a B.Tech from MIT Muzaffarpur, a government engineering college. Gupta could have got a job in the private sector outside the state. “Government job is a government job,” said Gupta, aresident of Goriakothi in Siwan, who is preparing for a government teacher’s job. “The government has completed Teacher Recruitment Examination 3 (TRE3) and announced TRE4 almost a year ago. We are still waiting. We want a change but who is there? All are same,” Gupta has also appeared once for the Bihar Public Service Commission Mains.
His friend Manish Yadav from Baikunthpur, Gopalganj, has come to Patna to appear for the Bihar Secondary Teacher Eligibility Test (BSTET) and says that the promises are hollow. “Just ask those promising crores of jobs what they have done in the past five years?” Yadav is a B.Tech from SRM University in NCR.
Abhishek Kumar (25) from Purnia, who is preparing for BPSC, said: “All the parties have now learnt to use jumla during elections. Tejashwi Yadav is saying one government job per family. I want to ask him what the criteria will be? The li- teracy rate among SCs/ STs is less than 10%. In Purnia, female literacy rate is 51%. What kind of jobs are you planning to give to the illiterate families,” he asks.
“We don’t want 2 crore jobs as promised by NDA. But at least ensure timely and leak-proof examinations. We are not from well-off families and cannot study professional courses outside the state. Government jobs are the only option,” Vikas Kumar from Beldaur, Khagaria, told ET . Kumar runs his Uber Bike for three to four hours every day to meet the expense of living in Patna, which is around ₹9,000 per month.
Vikas says in his village, women are happy about the ₹10,000 given to them and they will vote for NDA. As per government data, in the last five years, 9,68,000 government jobs have beengiven to the people here.
Vivek Mandal and Sajjan Kumar Jha, both in their late 20s, are having tea at a roadside stall near Darbhanga town. Mandal and Jha work with Swatantra Microfinance as agents. Their monthly salary is ₹18,000 plus incentive based on business. “We tried for government jobs, but gave up. There is no good MBA institute here and we didn’t have the money to go for further studies to Delhi and other places. There are limited job options for simple graduates like us,” Mandal told ET .
“We are tired of this government. Last time, we saw some hope in Tejashwi Yadav but this time he is making promises like NDA. We have no options,” Jha, hailing from Rupauli assembly told ET . Both have decided not to go to their homes to vote.
Sonam Kumari (25) from Muzaffarpur has once cleared BPSC Mains examination and is preparing for the second time. “The domicile policy and 35% reservation for women are going to help us a lot. Nitish Kumar has done a lot for women,” she says. Standing with her is Ajeet Kumar from Jamui. “The women have got reservations. ₹10,000 has been given to them. What have we boys got?” he says. “When we were protesting earlier this year, Jan Suraj leader Prashant Kishor came to support us. We saw some hope in him. But as elections started, he was nowhere,” he laments.
Praveen Choudhary who works in Reliance Retail and hails from Keoti in Darbhanga says: “Some are promising one government job per house, some are offering 2 crore jobs and some are saying factories. No one is serious and only wants votes.”
The message from Gen Z is loud and clear.
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