GHMC polls: No jobs in sight, students not keen on voting

HYDERABAD: Six years ago the TRS government had promised to fulfil thousands of vacant posts in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) and numerous other vacancies in the State’s offices. But only a few have been filled so far. 

According to student communities in Hyderabad, many youngsters, after obtaining their degrees, are forced to take up menial and contract-based labour jobs as the government has been lax towards fulfilling its promise. 

“There are over 20,000 vacancies in the GHMC. In the last election, the government had promised to recruit for all the posts and that no one from Hyderabad and Telangana would have to get out of the State in search for a job. But the posts remain vacant. This is why many students, who pass out from Hyderabad, are working in other States and are moving to Middle Eastern countries, where they end up doing menial jobs,” Dattatreya, the president of OUJAC, said. “Why should we vote for them (TRS)? Promises are made by others too, but we cannot trust them, not unless we see results,” he said.

Ashern Kumar, a student at a private engineering college, pointed out that universities and colleges in the city are not offering new and up-do-date courses. “Most students, even after they pass out of college, are unaware of the requirements of Telangana’s IT industry. So, many of them do not get jobs. The government should encourage startups in every suburb of Hyderabad and make students intern there,” he said. 

Kumar also said that if Hyderabad wants to be called a global city, it needs to evolve, for which the municipal corporation plays a major role. “Our numbers in the IT sector are too low, which is a problem,” he said. Students also told Express that public libraries, well-equipped free gyms and sports complexes should be given priority.