Two weeks ago our blog on the current predicament of the Indian middle class ended up triggering a debate on the floor of the Parliament (see https://marcellus.in/blogs/why-is-the-indian-middle-class-suffering/ ). However, politicians wagging their tongues in Delhi is not going to take the sting out of what is gradually developing into a financial crisis of significant proportions because without jobs, the Indian middle class will struggle to deal with the debt burden that it has taken on over the past five years. This story from The Print’s Nootan Sharma is a report from the frontline of this crisis which is at its most severe – as you would expect – in the heavily populated but economically backward states of north India:
“Patna police resorted to lathi-charge outside the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) office, where hundreds of aspirants gathered Friday to protest the possibility of normalisation of marks in the BPSC Integrated 70th Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination. Aspirants are demanding that the exam be held in a ‘one shift, one paper’ format, and that BPSC issue an official statement denying normalisation.
Normalisation of marks is a process through which marks obtained in exams held in two or more shifts are equalised using a statistical formula. A candidate is given a percentage score on the basis of marks obtained.
The BPSC Integrated 70th Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination for recruitment of Group A and B posts is to be held on 13 December. About five lakh candidates are expected to appear for the examination, which will be held across 925 centres.
BPSC initially advertised 1,957 vacancies in its notification, later revising it to 2,035.
Manish Singh, a BPSC aspirant, told ThePrint over the phone from Patna that more than 90,000 aspirants registered for the exam and paid the fee, but “couldn’t complete the application due to server issues”.
“Despite meetings with teachers, there has been no dialogue with students. There are rumours about the exams being conducted in multiple shifts. Exam centers are far and away, some as far as 300-400 km,” he added.”
Unless the powers that be take up the issue of skilling, jobs and social security benefits for educated but jobless youth as seriously as they take building statues and airports, we will continue to see lakhs of candidates applying for 2K jobs. And the only way the authorities can then deal with the resultant unrest is to lathi charge youth who are happy to sit for entrance tests provided there is a realistic prospect of employment.
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