The Young and the Restless

Nearly two crore young voters will cast ballots for their next government this year. One of their major issues - unemployment

- Anisha Reddy

IN December 2023, on the 22nd anniversary of the militant attack on Parliament, two young men jumped into the Lok Sabha chamber from the visitors’ gallery while two others sprayed yellow gas, almost in sync, and shouted slogans like “tanashahi nahi chalegi” outside the Parliament premises. Their actions, which got them booked under the country’s most stringent anti-terror law, were meant to be a form of protest, albeit unusual, against unemployment.

Youth unemployment has been one of the major talking points in state and central elections. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to create 10 million jobs a year when he came to power in 2014. With the Lok Sabha elections approaching again, the spree of announcements has begun—be it the Congress’ Pehli Naukri Pakki or the BJP’s ‘Modi guarantee’. These promises come in the backdrop of rising joblessness among those in the age group of 20-24, which grew to 44.49 per cent in the October-December 2023 quarter from 43.65 per cent in the July-September 2023 quarter, according to the latest Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy data.

“Election promises look good on paper mostly because they go into oblivion after elections,” says Aratrika, convening body member of the All India Students Association Karnataka and a college student. Amit Basole, Professor of Economics at Azim Premji University in Bengaluru, says that such announcements of recruitment drives and job reservations indicate the real hunger for government jobs but they are strategically announced before every election cycle.