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ARRAH — Prem Prakash has been striving for five years to join the Indian army, which has provided employment for 17 years to a small number of lucky people who have passed exams and physical tests.
However, as the government announced a new recruitment system aimed at making the army younger and more efficient, the 22-year-old is no longer interested and is purely focused on railroad employment. – Another difficult question.
"It was my dream to be in the army because it is the best way to serve the country and settle at a very young age," Prakash said in a small rental room full of books. Said the mosquito net. Ara's mosquito nets and cribs in the eastern town of Bihar.
"I'm not going to be in service for only four years. I've also stopped physical education."
Prakash guarantees most men in the army He is one of the hundreds of thousands of military recruits disappointed with the proposal to reduce the duration to four years. For many, the path to getting out of poverty suddenly became unattractive.
Last month, fierce protests broke out across the country for the proposal. At least one person was killed and more than 12 were injured.
The government says it will hire 46,000 cadets this year under a new recruitment program called "The Road of Fire" in Hindi.
The aim is primarily to reduce the average age of soldiers from the current 32-33 to 26 and contain what India considers to be a potential threat from neighboring countries. Is to slim down the country's 1.38 million powerful army. And Pakistan.
Analysts say the move could also lower the Indian army's surge in pension bills, allowing the country to spend more on new weapons. ..
The proposal applies only to non-executive military executives. Every year, far fewer new employees enroll in executive schools and are guaranteed employment until at least 50 years old.
The backlash against change underscores the challenges the government faces in order to provide sufficient work. A country with a stubbornly high unemployment rate of 1.35 billion.
At the same time, there is pressure to reform national institutions such as overstaffed and unwieldy police, troops, and railroads.
More protests
Ara is in India's poorest state of Bihar, with few industries or young people gathered at various coaching centers set up to prepare for government work. ..
Ala is known primarily for recruiting soldiers, while other Bihar towns specialize in sectors in other states.
The government said a quarter of military-qualified people would stay for another 15 years or so, enjoy benefits, including pensions, and the rest would help find employment in other states. ..
The Mahindra Group, a software-to-SUV conglomerate, welcomed the "opportunity to hire talented young people with such training" after four years in the military.
However, while Prakash has shifted its focus to the railroad, the turmoil in COVID-19 and the failure of the recruitment process mean that it is still waiting to test the position that opened in 2019.
The turmoil triggered massive protests earlier this year, with tens of thousands of students blocking rail traffic and destroying trains in Bihar and adjacent Uttar Pradesh.
"People are looking forward to stable employment in the public sector," said Associate Professor and Head of Sustainability Center at Azimpremji University in Bangalore. One Amit Basor said. employment.
To reduce pressure on the government, he added, "the private sector must also come forward and create the same number of employment opportunities."
Unemployment growth.
India's unemployment rate peaked at 23.5% in 2020 for the first year of COVID-19, reaching 7% according to data from the Mumbai-based India Economic Monitoring Center (CMIE). It exceeds. World average.
According to the government, the unemployment rate for the 15-29 year olds for the fiscal year ending March 31 was 12.9%. As of last year, the age group accounted for an estimated 27.3% of India's population, above 26.6. % In 1991, there are signs of increasing pressure to create more jobs.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014 and promised to create millions of jobs, but the economy has about 12 million labor force each year. Not growing fast enough to join. The increasing number.
Faced with reelection in 2024, Modi told officials last month that one million people would secure government employment in the next 18 months, and Ara's residents who had been struggling at the coaching center for many years. Raised expectations among them.
Gupteshwar Kumar, 21, his brother and cousin left the village in Ala many years ago to land government jobs and leave agriculture, the family's main source of income. I did.
Due to their older entry age and much longer employment, Kumar is currently focusing on railroads and police in Bihar and adjacent West Bengal.
Another 21-year-old Rabbi Ranjan Kumar said he desperately needed a job because his father's salary as a private security guard near New Delhi was barely sufficient.
"Even though I was discouraged from the Agnipass project, I need a job, so I show up in it," he said. (Written by Krishna N. Das, edited by Mike Collett-White and Raju Gopalakrishnan)