Will we have to wait all our lives, just to get a job? How are we to feed our families?

My friend has been trying to secure a government job for the last 7 years. In the hope that he would get the job one day, he would do odd jobs to earn a living for his family. But with the onset of the pandemic, he, like many others, lost all his sources of income. He recently gave the Uttar Pradesh Sub Inspector exam. On his return, I asked him how it went. He had no hope left in him when he said, ‘I have written the exam, but no one knows when the results will be out. This was also my last attempt as I have now crossed the age limit to apply.’ 

With no job opportunity in sight, will he and his family have to now remain hungry?

We study for years, spend our hard earned money on application forms, apply, only for the exams to get canceled. If the exams happen, the results never come out. If the results come out, the recruitment letters never reach us. My friend lost 7 years of his life due to this recruitment process. Sadly, this experience is not his alone, but that of lakhs of young people across the state. 

Young people from across the state are facing acute financial distress due to the rising unemployment, and have, on multiple occasions, conveyed their disappointment to the government on the same. It is time that our voices be heard! 

Uttar Pradesh is soon going into elections, and I would request all parties contesting to make the voices of lakhs of young people a priority, and promise to complete recruitment across all departments within 100 days of assuming office. Join me, by signing my petition. 

According to media reports, there are thousands of posts lying vacant across different departments in the Uttar Pradesh government, which is ironic given the rising unemployment rate in the state. According to a report, there is a shortage of more than 3.5 lakh teachers in the state. Despite this, in the last five years, the government has not brought out a single new recruitment. According to the BPRD data in March 2021, there were more than one lakh 11 thousand vacancies in the police department. The CMIE report suggests that the unemployment rate which was 2.4% in 2017 has gone up to 4.8% in November 2021.

Unemployed young people are not hard to find in Uttar Pradesh. Due to a flawed recruitment system, youth people are helpless! If they manage to ask for what is their right, they are answered with lathis, water cannons and tear gas. Is it a crime to ask for a job so that one is able to financially support oneself and one’s family? Or is it so dangerous that it is suppressed with violence? The voice of the young people cannot be suppressed any more!

Through this petition, I request all the parties contesting the elections in Uttar Pradesh, to address the state of rising unemployment and promise to fill all the vacant government posts within 100 days if they are assuming office.

I am a young person from Uttar Pradesh myself and am speaking up for the young people in my state. Sign and share my petition so that the administration too knows that what we are not asking for isn’t a favor, but OUR RIGHT!