Economy booms but India's young hanker for government jobs

PRAYAGARAJ, India/MUMBAI - Sunil Kumar, a 30-year-old, has spent the last nine years of his life chasing a job in the Indian government.

Packed with scores of others in makeshift classrooms under tin roofs with barely enough light and air, Kumar has spent years cramming for a variety of tests, including the prestigious civil services exam needed to get a job as a federal government bureaucrat. He has also tried for a provincial civil services post and two other tests for lower level government positions.

He has been unsuccessful in 13 attempts to get a job.

A resident of Uttar Pradesh, the country's most populous state, Kumar says he will continue to try for a government job until he turns 32, three years short of the cut-off for him to appear in a civil services exam.

"There is more security in government jobs," said Kumar. "If it happens in two to three years, the struggle of 10 years will be worth it."

According to government figures, 220 million people applied for federal jobs between 2014-2022, of whom 722,000 were selected. Many of those would have been repeat attempts, but still, tens of millions of young Indians chase government jobs every year even though the economy is booming and the private sector is expanding.

The trend underscores cultural and economic anxieties facing many Indians. Despite living in the world's fastest-growing major economy, many are grappling with an uncertain employment market where job opportunities, let alone job security, are hard to come by. Many see government employment as more secure than private-sector jobs in the world's most populous nation.

"If one person in the family gets a government job, the family believes they are settled for life," said Zafar Baksh, who runs a training