Ahead of the Punjab elections, almost every party promised jobs in their manifestos, but the ground reality of unemployment was evident at the Bathinda district courts on Wednesday, where 7,000 applicants showed up for 21 posts of peons and 6 posts of process server – all class D posts.
The eligibility for the post of peon is Class VIII with knowledge of Punjabi language and matriculation for process server, but graduates and post graduates, including women, had turned up for the interviews.
The interviews will continue for 5 days.
The peon and process servers will get only the basic pay for three years in the pay scale of Rs 4,900-10,680 along with grade pay of Rs 1,800 per month.
As per authorities, the number of those appearing for the posts is increasing with every passing year.
The fact also came to light when the state government organised job melas (employment fairs) from time to time in the previous years where most of the jobs by private companies came with a Rs 8,000-10,000 per month package.
When former chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh was in opposition, he used to claim that there are 80 lakh unemployed in Punjab. The Congress had assured an unemployment allowance of Rs 2,500 per month, but this was never given.
As many as 4,487 were found eligible for 21 posts of peon and 2,489 for 6 posts of process server. Over 200 females too appeared on the first day of the interviews.
Anticipating a large number of applications, the court authorities had formed various benches to conduct interviews over 5 days and 1,360 applicants were called on the first day on March 2, a court official told TOI.
Gurwinder Singh, who belongs to a village in Bathinda (did not disclose village name), said he had completed his post-graduation in 2021 and was looking for a job.
“I have worked for a few months in a private company, but am now ready to take up a Class IV job of handing over court summons to people.
I got offers in job fairs but at Rs 7,000 per month.”
Mukesh Kumar, a graduate from a nearby town who had applied for the post of process server said, “I am teaching in a private school at a meagre salary and want to grab this because of job security.”
He further said that job fairs organised by the state government are a farce as no proper job is provided, only numbers of jobs are counted, which people leave after sometime.
Another applicant from Malout said he had graduated in humanities and had a diploma in computer applications.
At present, I am working in a tele-call company and want to grab a job to support the family.”
Kusum from Bathinda said that she has done graduation and was pursuing MA History from Indira Gandhi National Open University through distance education and wanted any job to run her household.
A housewife working at a private college, too, had queued up for this “secure job”.
“Various political parties woo youngsters for electoral gain and make claims about eliminating unemployment, but it clearly shows the level of unemployment in the state that even the highly-qualified youths are not hesitating to try for Class IV jobs.
The new government needs to take a look at the unemployment levels,” said Association For Democratic Rights activist Sudeep Singh.
