The ‘Sarkari’ Mirage

India’s government job mania reveals a deeper malaise — the worship of security over enterprise, memory over imagination

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India doesn't lack talent only imagination in how it chooses to use it

India is a nation of ironies. The country remains poor, its governments perennially short of cash — and yet, a government job here is the golden ticket. It pays more than almost any comparable position in the private sector, offers lifetime tenure, inflation-proof pensions, generous holidays, and, often, an intangible but powerful bonus: social prestige and discretionary power.

Economists such as Alex Tabarrok and Kunal Mangal have shown that when you factor in the value of job security, perks, and informal “rents,’ the lifetime worth of a government job can be as much as ten times that of an equivalent private position. No wonder millions of Indians spend years — sometimes decades — preparing for entrance exams to secure one.

In Tamil Nadu alone, 2.3 million people once applied for just 368 positions — and the much coveted position was An office boy! Its the same story across India: staggering competition for jobs that often require little more than a high school education.

That one of the world’s fastest-growing economies has its youth aspiring to become office Peons should worry us deeply. These are roles that technology has long made redundant, but they continue to symbolise security and social standing.

India’s obsession with government exams has warped the country’s education system. Schools and universities have become pipelines for test preparation rather than centres of learning. Success is no longer measured by innovation, curiosity, or creativity, but by how many students crack the next round of government exams.