After waiting for a government job for about 30 years, when Krishna M (name changed) from Theni district finally did get a decent one in 2014, he was 59 and had to retire after working for only 10 months.

Venkatesh is 51 and — like Krishna — had registered with the employment exchange with his SSLC certificate to await a government job in 1983. Now, after being fed up of renewing his certificate a couple of years ago, the Chennai resident has taken up a job with a private company with a meagre salary.

Venkatesh claims that despite several hundred visits to the employment department, the officials did not communicate with them properly. “Even my wife waited years to get her Class 12 certificate registered,” he rued.

There are 72 lakh people across the state who are waiting to get the approximately 1.2 lakh jobs that the government offers, states the data released by the employment exchange in Tamil Nadu. And it is not just fresh graduates, there are 6,333 people above 57 years who have renewed their certificates with the department this year.

In addition to this, about 11 lakh people aged between 36 and 56 are still waiting to get an interview call from the employment exchange to work with a government department.

 

A senior official from the Labour and Employment Department said that it is especially difficult for people over 50 to get government jobs and cases like that of Krishna’s are rare.

 

Not giving up hope, 55-year-old S Amudha, has been renewing her certificate ever since 1980, but is yet to get a job. “I have been renewing my certificates even after my husband’s death but the officials at the department are yet to say anything about a job,” she said. Amudha works as a domestic help now.

Government jobs remains a priority among the people in Tamil Nadu. State Government Employees Association senior member P Kumaravel said, “Job security, fixed working hours, weekend holidays, more maternity benefits for women, periodical increment in the salary, comprehensive health insurance scheme and retirement benefits are the main reasons why people want to take up government jobs.”

He added that even SSLC qualified persons are likely to get the position of office assistant in various government departments. But, stating that the present job structure was drawn in 1947, he said, “This structure shows that thousands of government jobs are available every year but with advancement in technology and computerisation, the need for employees has actually reduced.”

S Natraja Subramanian, a trainer of Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) exams said that despite the increase in the number of employment opportunities with private companies, the craze for government jobs refuse to die. “In private firms, there is no job guarantee. They can sack the employees any time they wish whereas that is not the case with government jobs. Hence, it is little wonder that right after completing their studies, people try to land a government job,” said Natraja.

According to the statistics provided by employment exchange, every year Tamil Nadu has been generating only 15,000 to 20,000 direct jobs and about one lakh indirect jobs. Authorities said that the gap between the demand and the supply over the years.

S Kumar, a senior official from Labour Department, said that most of the government jobs are outsourced especially when it comes to civil works. He also pointed out that more than 12 lakh people between 36 and 57 years have been renewing their registration in the employment exchange continuously.

 

“Age plays a crucial role while allotting government jobs. Therefore, there is no point in waiting for a government job when a person, who had registered with employment exchange, has crossed 35 years,” Kumar said.

The official, however, added that the government is trying its level best to place the people, even in the private sector.

According to him, from January 2017 to March 2018, the number of job seekers who were placed in public sector is 4,392 while 47,302 were given jobs in the private sector. “This Department has helped 85,777 people find jobs in public sector establishments from the 2011 to March 2018,” Kumar said. It is usually people who weren’t selected for the public jobs who were moved to the private sector, he added.

Unemployment assistance is given for three years to job seekers waiting on the live register of the employment offices which may be extended to five years’ depending upon the person’s age and income. The annual income criteria for eligibility is Rs 1,00,000 and maximum age limit is 40 years in the general category and 45 years for those from Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The money is credited quarterly into the bank account of beneficiaries.

 

During the financial year 2017-2018, Rs 30.45 crore was disbursed to 57,365 beneficiaries under the scheme.