The scenario of Government Jobs In India
Every year, the government announces an appreciable number of job openings. Then also, the majority of people are unable to achieve it due to the substantial growth of competition. I myself had applied for a number of government jobs but was unsuccessful, all thanks to the strong competition. Stating the fact, there is a tremendous desire among the Indian citizens to work for the country and also to secure their future by building their career in government jobs. As a result of all these factors, the market of government jobs in India has become extremely competitive.
Why is there so much craze for Government Jobs?
There are multiple factors that can be held responsible for the immense craze of government jobs in the youth. Some of these factors are stated below.
- Attractive Salary Package: The majority of jobs in the government sector offer a very good salary package, and employees get their salary on time every month. Several other incentives and perks are provided along with grade pay.
- Job Stability: The Government sector provides job security in any unexpected situation like a pandemic or during the recession period also. When most private-sector employees are fired in these situations, employees from the government sector have their job secure.
- Future life Security: The most important benefit from a government job is that your future life is secure with it due to the great retirement benefits like Pension, PF, Gratuity etc.
- Medical benefits: We all realised that the medical issue had gone out of reach for regular people. However, for government employees, the government covers all medical expenses, not just for the person, but for the entire family.
- Social life benefits: Because of the enormous craze for government jobs among Indians, having a government job earns you a good reputation in society.
Reasons for the extreme competition in the government sector jobs
- Less number of vacancies a high number of applicants:
As we all know that every year a limited number of vacancies are offered by the government sector. But applicants applying for these vacancies are very high in number. Due to this uneven ratio of the number of vacancies and number of applications competitions have arisen at a very large level in this sector.
Let’s see data of SSC CGL Exam that can support the above point
| Year | Number Of Vacancies | Number Of Applicants(Approx) |
|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 8,121 | 30,26,598 |
| 2018 | 11,105 | 25,97,000 |
| 2019 | 8,421 | 21,59,512 |
| 2020 | 7035 | 21,89,791 |
| Source: RTI |
- Reservation among the posts offered:
2.1 Various posts are reserved for a specific category, along with a limited number of vacancies. 2.2 As a result, there is an unequal distribution of job openings among the applicants. 2.3 When there are a large number of candidates in a given category, the number of positions available is less or are reserved for other categories.
| Post Code | Name of Post | Categorisation | Pay Level | Age limit | Category wise Vacancy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 05 | Food Analyst | 10 | 35 | UR-1,OBC(NCL)-1, SC-1, EWS-1 | |
| 06 | Technical Officer | 7 | 30 | UR-50, OBC(NCL)-33, SC-19, ST-3, EWS-4 | |
| 07 | Central Food Safety Officer | 7 | 30 | UR-14, oBC(NCL)-10, SC-6, ST-3, EWS-4 | |
| 08 | Assistant Manager (IT) | 7 | 30 | UR-2, OBC(NCL)-1, SC-1 | |
| 09 | Assistant Manager | Journalism, Mass Communication, or Public Relation | 7 | 30 | UR-1, OBC(NCL)-1 |
| 09 | Assistant Manager | Social Work, Psychology, Labour and Social Welfare, Library Science | 7 | 30 | UR-1, SC-1 |
| Source: FSSAI |
From the figure, you can see how vacancies in each post are reserved for different categories
- The rise in unemployment and increased concern of job security due to the pandemic situation:
3.1 Several private-sector employees have lost their jobs as a result of the pandemic situation that has developed over the last few years. 3.2 This has raised the unemployment rate, as well as people's fear that if a similar circumstance arises again, their job may be lost. 3.3 As a result, youth have shifted their preferences from the private to the public sector.
Let's take a look at the unemployment rate during the last 12 months
| Month | Unemployment Rate (%) |
|---|---|
| Jan 2022 | 6.57 |
| Dec 2021 | 7.91 |
| Nov 2021 | 6.97 |
| Oct 2021 | 7.74 |
| Sept 2021 | 6.86 |
| Aug 2021 | 8.32 |
| Jul 2021 | 6.96 |
| June 2021 | 9.17 |
| May 2021 | 11.84 |
| April 2021 | 7.97 |
| March 2021 | 6.50 |
| Feb 2021 | 6.89 |
Source: CMIE
The scenario of a government job has drastically changed over the past few years. Competition has increased 10 times more than the previous years and will keep on increasing in the future. People are being drawn to it due to numerous causes such as the pandemic scenario, tremendous benefits over the private sector, and therefore increasing competition in the government sector.