Pooling For Big Brother

But it is not as if Sikkim is flush with jobs. Hundreds, even thousands, of youngsters are giving government jobs a good hard look. Not just because they want to play it safe. Deekshant Sehrawat, who runs MBAGuru, a coaching academy for MBA aspirants, says it isn’t entirely true that private sector jobs hold a greater sense of satisfaction. “I see a lot of unhappiness in the private sector as well,” he says. “Young people are constantly jumping jobs, always comparing salaries, almost always unhappy.” Agrees Ulhas Vairagkar, director, T.I.M.E. Delhi, a coaching firm: “Not everyone who joins a government job wishes to move to the private sector.” He says more students are enlisting to prepare for bank, post office and other government exams, as compared to a few years ago. Getting an MBA is the easy part. It’s tougher to get youngsters to find a career they want, which fits their interests, rather than just get an MBA because it seems like a “catch-all tool that everybody wants to procure”.

That may be why Sri Krishna, a 31-year-old public sector employee in Bangalore, is pursuing a one-year executive education course at the Management Development Institute (MDI) in Gurgaon—the “catch-all” MBA tag. But Krishna has no plans to quit his job. A trained engineer, he has been with HAL in Bangalore for about six years. It’s just that HAL sponsored the course. His wife, an IT professional, works at a private software firm in the city. He is very happy with the way his career has turned out. “There was no special reason to choose a PSU, but I am staying on here because I’ve been one of the few lucky people who had an opportunity to grow on the job,” he says. By “grow” Krishna means getting more responsibilities and targets to meet, which implies career achievements. His course may not be viewed by private sector hirers as being on par with full-time MBAs. However, it suggests post-retirement employability, a steady pension and a life in Bangalore—a city he loves. “This job gives me what I need most, both work satisfaction and a career path,” he says.

A management degree certainly has greater marketability—salaries zoom and youngsters climb up the ladder briskly—but for many, quality of work is gaining equal importance. Many opt to learn on the job rather than draw lofty salaries for drab and tedious work in, say, a call centre. “For many, it is about improving themselves rather than just their pockets. The nature of work at public sector companies is what enthuses them to join,” says Prof N.R. Bhusnurmath, area chairperson for finance, MDI. A significant number of MDI grads went in for government jobs, Bhusnurmath says. Last year, the RBI hired two. The SBI, Union Bank and Bank of Baroda are popular public sector firms, besides HAL, ONGC, and PowerGrid.

A key aspect of government employment, Prof Archana Shukla of IIM Lucknow (Noida campus) says, is that many of the ‘myths’ about it are being busted. “They give a free hand to public sector employees as well, contrary to established perceptions,” she says. This adds to the permanent nature of government jobs, which offer benefits and, often, pensions as well. “In particular, they follow certain ‘equal opportunity’ norms in government employment: typically, government openings encourage some minimum standards. After that, if you are good, you can reach very high,” she explains. This partly explains why mobs arrive by the thousands whenever the government holds a recruitment drive. A few years ago, over one lakh rural women applied for just two ASHA health worker positions in Bihar and Jharkhand. Every year, there are violent clashes during recruitment for police and railway jobs.

The dream Like so many, Khinvraj Janjit covets an IAS job. (Photograph by Sanjay Rawat)

Khinvraj Janjit, a 27-year-old JNU PhD student who also teaches at the Indian Society of International Law (ISIL), says that for many Indians, even a government job with all its so-called attendant problems—lack of opportunity for growth, red tape, even steadily diminishing perks, pensions and benefits—would be more acceptable than an “insecure” private job. “You and I may feel a thousand-rupee pension is a pittance today, but for many in our country, it implies lifelong security,” he says. Janjit is one of the lakhs who appear every year for India’s most coveted job—in the IAS. In 1951, 15 per cent of the applicants were admitted into the service. In 2009-10, this percentage went down to 0.3 per cent. This isn’t only because the exam has gotten harder to beat each year. The number of applicants have boomed—far more apply than the government could ever hope to recruit. In 2009-10, over 15 lakh applied, of whom only about 11,000 were appointed or recommended for appointment in both the civil and defence services. Shukla says the rush of applicants indicates a “demand-supply” gap. Considering that MA and PhD students are applying for police sub-inspector posts, it’s also clear that India’s service-led boom has little patience for those lacking urbane sophistication and, chiefly, English-speaking skills. “All in all, this leaves India with far more takers for government jobs than we think. Besides, the government also retains access to latest technologies: no surprise if nuclear experts consider a government job,” says Shukla. For specialist departments that involve field research—the census for instance—the government institutes hold the upper hand. As a government consultant notes: “The scope of many government projects in health, supplies, education etc can be a worthy challenge for top professionals. But ultimately, what draws you to it is the fact that government work can impact the whole country.” So while there may be thousands coming off the assembly lines at the ever-ballooning business schools, driven to sell soaps and bank loans or spend ungodly hours talking in strange accents, for many youngsters, the goal will forever be: to join the largest employer of all—the government.