50 lakh forgotten: LS 2024 manifestos ignore unemployment crisis

The 2024 Lok Sabha elections are already underway, but the major parties looking for a stake in Gujarat are yet to address the concerns of 50 lakh voters: unemployed educated youth. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Congress, and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) have all ignored the state’s unemployment crisis in their respective manifestos. 

The surge in applications for low-level government jobs could imply that jobs are lacking in Gujarat, often cited as a model state for the rest of the country. However, it is not that jobs are lacking. What is lacking is the state’s ability to fill vacant positions. 

As much as 90% of rural medical positions lie vacant. And this is not a new phenomenon. According to Rural Health Statistics data, Gujarat needed 1,088 surgeons, OB-GYN (obstetrics and gynaecology) specialists, physicians and paediatricians in 2005, but only 92 positions were filled. As of 2022, only 9.22% (127 of a total 1,376) positions had been filled. Similarly, government data also says that there are more than 25,000 vacancies in the state police force, and Gujarat's schools are short of 32,000 teachers. 

According to government data, recruitment to more than government positions has been delayed in Gujarat since 2015 for various reasons. For instance, TET-TAT (Teacher Eligibility Test-Teacher Aptitude Test) graduates protested in Gandhinagar in 2023 over a new recruitment scheme, while LRD (Lok Rakshak Dal) aspirants protested in 2022 over an issue with the waiting list. 

The situation is so dire that a majority of the 96,917 Indians detained by the US Border Patrol, for trying to enter the country illegally in 2023-24, were found to be from Gujarat. Not just the US, the promise of employment and a better lifestyle is also drawing educated and unemployed youth from Gujarat to countries facing political and economic instability. 

This, despite PM Modi’s promise in 2019 of adding 2 crore jobs annually. 

With election fever in the air, the BJP, Congress and AAP continue to snipe at each other and spew rhetoric without any mention of this very real issue facing voters in Gujarat. 

The Congress party's campaign strategy has been to focus on its past achievements and experience in governance to sway voters. Meanwhile, that of the BJP centres around the figure of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the party's 'Modi Ki Guarantee' to appeal to voters. This includes highlighting significant national issues such as Article 370 and the Ayodhya Ram Temple, which have been major points of the party's agenda in recent years. 

However, neither party, nor the third contender AAP, has focused on unemployment in Gujarat—a notable oversight given that this is a serious concern, which could hinder Gujarat's long-term economic prospects, and the parties’ election goals.