Signals of distress from a frenzy for railway jobs
PremiumUnruly mobs wreaked havoc on Republic Day in protest against an alleged tweak in the Indian Railways’ process of recruitment. This was a sign of desperation in our job market
Last year, Republic Day was rattled by farmer protests that saw the Red Fort in Delhi get stormed. This year, the theatre of infraction was elsewhere. Anger erupted in Bihar, where railway tracks got blocked, stations were ransacked and an empty coach of a train was set aflame over a recruitment drive. As a signal of job desperation in India, few have been as clear as this. Or as plausible, given the ravages of covid in an economy starved of jobs anyway. Rumbles of this eruption had grown louder in recent days, with mobs in various cities and towns reportedly angry about having to take a second round of tests for employment by the Indian Railways. It was notified alright, according to the ministry in charge, but protesters claimed it was sprung on them. The implications of this to their aspirations, it seems, was enough to set off a frenzy that has left railway utilities wrecked, services disrupted and the object of their ire suspended. The exam being put off, however, will not alter the low odds of any aspirant’s success. While those identified as miscreants may get barred for life, the rest can hardly fancy their chances with 12.5 million applicants for around 35,000 posts. This is a truly dismal ratio for roles that range from those of guards and clerks to timekeepers and station masters, with initial pay scales mostly under ₹35,000 per month.
Staggering figures have marked railway recruitment for decades. With over 1.2 million people on its payroll today, our state-run Railways has long been an employer sans parallel, one that is often charged with the task of job generation for those of modest means. This reputation routinely results in near stampedes each time it recruits staff. Back in the early 2000s, for example, a similar exercise made news for graduates of business schools among the people vying for a set of positions that included the job of a coal-shoveller for steam engines. Though the appeal of such a career was attributed by some to popular confusion over a Hindi term caused by a show on TV that portrayed astronauts as “space khalasis", it was a reflection all the same of a job scarcity that has worsened since. The country is swarming with youth unable to secure salaries for themselves, many of whom claim levels of education on paper that stay unproven in actual practice. Proficiency in non-technical roles of the sort offered by the Railways, though, could be imparted by on-the-job training. But who should be taken on? Heaped with 10 times as many applications as its entire workforce for its latest clutch of openings, selectors can hardly expect to go by a process of ‘merit’ that does not end up as a draw of lots.
Since application pressure on the Railways is an old story, this week’s outburst indicates a surge of livelihood anxiety, a reading that would be consistent with several recent survey reports. It’s another matter that India’s great carrier cannot be called upon to enrol more people than it can afford. For it to deliver the services we need, it must rely less on budget outlays and make enough revenues to fund its own capital expenditure, not just cover costs. This demands a better financial performance than it has been able to manage. Its ‘operating ratio’ for 2021-22, or the amount spent for every ₹100 earned, is expected to be above 95. While this would beat 2020-21’s figure by a bit, it’s far behind the ministry’s target of 85 by this year. On this ratio too, we must move keep moving fast just to stay where we are.
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