Unemployed youth in Telangana are disgruntled with BRS

HYDERABAD: Students from Telangana preparing for competitive exams are disgruntled with the BRS leadership, which has ‘done precious little to provide jobs’. Many from the interiors and born into small and marginal farm families, say they cannot go back home without a job and have to live in cramped rooms in Hyderabad, where they came for job-hunting.

M. Srikanth (28), a 2016 B. Tech graduate from a village in Kamalapur mandal of Warangal district, says, “I got a software job but left it as I preferred getting a government job. The government issued several notifications almost simultaneously, which has put us in a fix as we were unable to decide which exam to prepare for. The syllabus and orientation of preparation for them are all different and are causing mental pressure on us. The leakage of question papers adds to our woes.”

Hiring contract staff has become the norm for the government and youth are sulking. Some students rely on the cheap food provided by GHMC in the city library premises and by donors in the night. To add insult to injury I am told that the quantum of unemployment dole being paid by the State government was asked as a question in a competitive exam, he added.

Many students work part time to survive in Hyderabad. K. Raghu with a BSc works part time in a cloth store and earns Rs 4,000 a month working five hours a day. Son of a farmer with six acres of land in Borewelli village of Manavapadu mandal, he says, “I have stopped working in the store to devote my time for the exams. Till I turn 30 all my future plans are on hold owing to lack of a job. Parents find it difficult to send money.”

Another job aspirant who completed his degree in 2008 and is now a 35-year-old, and sought anonymity, says, “The government is delaying notifications in the name of lack of clarity on the zones and then formation of new districts. Could they not get the new zones approved earlier? They are now talking of 95 percent jobs for locals. Wasn’t jobs for locals at the heart of the Telangana agitation? Who will compensate us for this loss?”

“The increase in the upper age limit by five years for appearing in these exams, I feel, worked negatively. The delay in notifications has kept us away from pursuing something else. This way more youth are wasting their time," he added.   

E. Ravi a BSc, BEd aged around 30 who cleared his TET in June, 2022 says, “I could not write the 2017 TRT as I didn’t have TET qualification. Post that there have not been any TRT (teacher recruitment test) notifications. Many students line up at the GHMC outlet which gives food for 'five.”

Students hesitate to speak their mind as they fear consequences, he added.

BA graduate G. Kotesh “There has not been even one notification without court cases. We don't hope they will give notifications if BRS comes back again. Elections were held in 2018 and notifications came in 2022 in December. Many are now 30 to 32 and hesitate to go back home as we don't have jobs. I will do my bit against this government. I skip visiting home because my mother said that the '1000 that I saved could be useful for me here.”

“I will vote for any party that promises to issue notification for jobs. The youth declaration by Revanth Reddy raises some hope. I had voted for the BRS earlier and my uncle is a sarpanch from that party”, he added.

While BTech graduate R. Santhosh from Mancherial district rued that many exams have been caught in court battles, A. Shekhar, BSc, Bed, who hails from Adilabad says he will have to go back to agriculture if he fails to secure a job.