Poisonous Panacea: The Harsh Realities of Infatuation with Government Jobs in India
“Amma, I got a job with the Tatas. The location is Delhi and the pay is handsome”, said Siddharth, a graduate of one of the technology institutions of the country right after getting his first job. “This is wonderful to hear. I hope the work hours are not strenuous and you get time to study so that you can make us prouder after getting that coveted RBI Grade B Job or IPS like your uncle”, replied Siddharth’s grandmother.
Siddharth’s story is similar to the story of many young Indians who have been suggested, recommended, or ordered by their family and friends to get a government job. For many graduates, a job in public sector entities is the first choice. The affection for the public sector jobs in India is known for quite some time now. In the times of market economy which has its own flavours of uncertainty, market fluctuation, and recession, a government job provides one with the most coveted characteristic of a job: (almost) life-long guaranteed employment. Once appointed, it is quite difficult to remove government employees. In addition to life-long job security, a government job entails numerous pay revisions, paid leaves, and most importantly, respect and honour in the society. Furthermore, there are allowances, healthcare, and housing benefits to most of the public sector employees. Contrary to what many believe, a government job does need one to have a problem-solving mindset to work under pressure in order to meet the targets.
To reduce subjectivity and being fair to all the aspirants, government employers mostly follow a standardised test format. Most of the exams require one to appear for exams that test an aspirant’s ability to think logically, reason rationally, and remember factually. The language of examination for most of the state-level exams is the state’s official language, and English in addition to one of the Indian Languages for the Central Government Jobs. Along with written exams, there are tests for physical fitness and computer knowledge. Some of the most coveted posts in the bureaucracy do require a personal interview before the panel too. This is a broad overview of the government jobs exams in India. However, many of the aspirants prepare using the same methodologies that do not work for all the state and central government exams. This is partly due to the lack of knowledge about specific exams.
There are quite a few issues with this process. First of all, it is worth considering that this process is elitist and serves best only those who had exposure to a better education since the beginning. In simple words, this one size fits all process does not help the aspirants who didn’t have access to quality education in their formative year. To illustrate this better, imagine a boy from a village of Eastern India, who never got a chance to go to an English Medium, appearing for the Civil Services Examination. The barrier of entry for this particular student is high as compared to a girl who has been studying in Delhi since her childhood. Ceteris paribus, with the same level of intelligence and thinking abilities, the girl has a higher chance to succeed because of her background.
Another point worth noting is the effect of coaching institutions that have a direct correlation with access to education. Those aspirants who did not have a background that is expected from an entrance exam are lured into the trap of mushrooming coaching institutions across the nation. A walk in the neighbourhoods of Rajendar Nagar and Mukherjee Nagar in Delhi exemplifies the gravity of the problem. It is not being said that coaching does not help, however, at many places coaching has turned into a place where dreams are sold, aspirations are intensified, and cut-throat competition instead of collaboration is incentivised. The cost for that is time, energy, in addition to money without any benefit to the student in terms of education, guidance, or preparation. Moreover, a major portion of an aspirant’s time is also involved in making the decision about trivial issues such as whether to join coaching or not, which institute to choose, where to study, group study or self-study etc leading to an overwhelming process.
On top of that, the entire process does not test for innovation and creativity, but on an aspirant’s ability to remember facts and put information out in a time-constraint environment. The focus is on cramming and regurgitating information in the exam. Also for questions that supposedly test reasoning and verbal abilities of aspirants, there are books, videos, and PDFs that enlist methodologies to solve specific questions with specific tricks. Moreover, the entire process is overwhelming for an aspirant in terms of syllabus, tricks, and the structure of the entire examination pattern. Consequently, it is a time-consuming process, whereby an aspirant needs to hold other plans until the result is declared, which either categorises them as a success or a failure for that particular exam.
The examination process results in the creation of two sets of students after the results of the exam have been declared. One of the sets will have aspirants who succeeded in the exam and are now appointed for various posts. The honeymoon period for many of these people soon after they join the job. Anecdotal evidence says that dissatisfaction among workers in the public sector entities is quite high. Many of the current government employees say that they do not want their children to have a job that they had, and prefer the private sector over the government one. In addition to this, many of the new recruits do not have an idea of the technical knowledge of their department, organisational politics they are subjected to, and bureaucratic processes they must deal with once they enter the workforce leading to overwhelming decision-making and mental health issues in worst cases. It is also a known fact that many of the government employees lack opportunities for social and psychological training that many of their counterparts in the private sector get.
The harsher outcome is for those who do not succeed in the exam. Competitive exams in India have been criticised for a long time because they force a rejected mentality on all those who are not accepted. It is true that the government cannot employ everyone, but the current process is unfair to a lot of students who are not selected. Fear of rejection is one of the most painful fears for humankind. These outcomes directly make a person question their worth and personality. This may have a serious implication for them, as it will make them question the concept of self and abilities of self to succeed in life. Moreover, the added pressure that an aspirant has from friends and family exacerbates the situation. Adding to that, when an aspirant hears statements like “we will not show face to anybody”, “you wasted our money”, “we knew you were good for nothing” can lead people to depression and, in worst cases, to suicidal tendencies, as a direct result of internal conflict. Another fact worth noting is that after this time-consuming failure, it is very difficult for any person to start again, because the resilience is broken again and again, and there is a constant mental dissatisfaction, which is difficult to get out from.
There may not be a direct solution to this problem right away. Having said that, the minimum that can be done for those around us is mental support and stress-alleviating behaviour with them who face difficulty after any failure. In addition to that, putting less pressure on our students and family members for that job can be very instrumental. It is perfectly alright to fail, to not get a government job, and to be unemployed for some time. What is more important is a constant sense of belongingness that is empowering for the giver as well as the receiver. Talking about policy interventions, we need a comprehensive policy that decreases the time for recruitment of government jobs. It should also address issues such as the number of attempts and the decreased age limit to keep the youth away from the vicious cycle of preparation for jobs. It is not that we do not have the recommendations. What we need is an implementation on the ground for the same policies. Incentivising private organisation and small scale entrepreneurs to pick and take growth-improving measures can be an instrumental step in decreasing job-induced stuff in the aspirants.
Despite the seemingly numerous benefits that a government job entails, private sector growth and development is important for the holistic development of the nation. Policy interventions that bring higher efficiency and accountability in the government jobs leading to better governance, eventually reducing the dependability on the government jobs, thus incentivising the private-players led growth along with the established state structures will be helpful for the economy and eventually population in the long run. Socially, we need to let go of our infatuation with the government jobs and look beyond that. Most importantly, we need to have a support system for aspirants when they fail any examination. Doing so will help us to build confident leaders having high self-esteem, high resilience, and high innovation capabilities.
