Aggression in Indian Unemployed Educated Youths is rising day by day because of so many factors. And there is a very widespread view that youth unemployment is a key cause of insurgency or civil war in any country. Youth violence for employment rights occurred in 2022, India’s job crisis gained international attention when young applicants rioted against the alleged lack of transparency in the Indian Railways’ recruitment process.
Despite having a large working-age population and even during periods of significant economic growth, India has long struggled with intractable youth unemployment, which has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
India has long had an unemployment problem, and coveted government jobs always attract a large number of applicants. However, the widespread outrage over railway jobs poses a challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of crucial state elections in February and March, including in Uttar Pradesh.
Modi took office in 2014, promising development that would create millions of jobs for India’s growing population of young, educated Indians. However, according to data from Mumbai-based the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), national unemployment peaked at 23.5 per cent in 2020 and has stubbornly remained well above 7 per cent significantly higher than the global average.
According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), a household employment–unemployment survey that provides annual estimates on key labour market indicators, reported a 45-year high of 6.1 per cent in India’s open unemployment rate in 2017–18. What was particularly concerning was that this statistic was largely the result of high youth unemployment, i.e. those aged 15–29. The overall youth unemployment rate was 17.8 per cent in 2017 and has remained above 15 per cent in the period 2017–2020.
Over 65 per cent of the population is under the age of 35 including Students and young people in general will shape the future of India. The Indian government focuses on public investment in education rather than youth employment. So, we can say that in the interest of crony capitalism, these measures have been ignored in favour of short-term private gains.
Recently The violence erupted in the populous states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh (U.P.). Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana as angry job aspirants protested against the Ministry of Home Affairs, recruitment under the Agneepath scheme.
Under this scheme youths between the ages of 17-and-a-half and 21 would be inducted for a four-year term, with 25% of recruits retained for regular service. After completion of the four-year service tenure, there will be 10 per cent reservations for the ‘Agniveers’ in central government jobs.
Youth protesters of this scheme believe that their future is jeopardised under the new scheme. They want to work for the full 15 years under the current system because it guarantees higher pay and opportunities for advancement to senior positions with pension benefits.
Another reason for the rising aggression in Indian unemployed educated youth, who protesting against this scheme is that the Indian government launched this scheme without taking their suggestions or consulting the common Indians who spend years preparing for the prestigious post.
The current situation of this country is that the central and state government has nothing to give students and youth regarding education and jobs. As a result of this, when students mobilise to protest, they are met with aggressive political vendetta and police atrocities.
There is no magic wand for dealing with these issues. However, as India’s youth appear to be running out of patience in their search for decent and gainful employment, policy support for young people, such as employment services, active labour market programmes (such as hiring subsidies), and entrepreneurship schemes, must be urgently examined.
The inability of young adults to secure good jobs at the start of their careers is not only demotivating and discouraging for them, but it can also leave a scar on their career, increasing the likelihood of being unemployed later in life and resulting in a wage penalty. Growing youth unrest may be the price society must pay.
