MUMBAI: Vivek Dhande, 26, who comes from the droughtprone Ghansawangi taluka of Jalna district in Marathwada, is a double graduate - a BSc degree and a diploma in education degree. Yet, he is among the 1.7 lakh applicants vying for 959 posts of audit clerks in the finance department.
"I am desperate for a job now. I am banking on this opportunity," said Dhande, who completed his last degree in 2012 and is yet to find a job. He lives in a joint family with his farmer father, stay-at-home mother, younger brother and a grandmother and they are barely able to meet their basic needs.
Reported on Friday that for the 4,410 jobs that the government had advertised, it received 7.9 lakh applications. All these jobs are entry level, and of Class III and Class IV rank, and many over-qualified youths are pinning their hopes on this opportunity.
When TOI spoke to a few of these applicants, they said that in the absence of a stable private sector market, the government jobs are high in demand. Some said that government jobs, though clerical in nature, come with a 'status' symbol for the youth, especially from the smaller towns.
Ganesh Pol, 25, a civil engineer from Vadgaon in Kolhapur, is one of the 58,000 applicants for the 405 junior engineer posts in the PWD. Pol, who finished his graduation a year ago and has been struggling to find a 'stable' job, said for him and many like him, the advertisement for these entry-level jobs is a ray of hope.
These are the first installment of the 72,000 posts the BJP-led government plans to fill as part of its mega recruitment drive ahead of the election.
"The average pay in the government job is Rs 15,000, which is much higher than some of private sector jobs that came my way," he added. The salary range for the post is between Rs 9,000 and Rs 35,000. The insecurity in farming is another factor driving youths to government jobs.
"Farming is the main source of income for our family, which is also rapidly dwindling," said Dhande. "For people from the rural areas, the family occupation of farming is not an option anymore as it is loss-making. So parents want their children to study, but even after studying, there are no jobs," he said.
Umesh Chorghade, 30, (name changed), is a BA in English Literature and stays in Pathardi in Ahmednagar district with his mother, a teacher who will retire soon. He has also done a diploma in education degree, and only last year got a job as a temporary primary teacher for Rs 3,000 per month.
Hemmed in from all sides, he learnt to type to increase his chances of a government job. "I have a speed of 30 words per minute in English and 40 words per minute in Marathi, a criterion for the post of junior clerk I have applied for," he said.