Arrah, Chapra, Aurangabad, Nawada, Jehanabad and Buxar — all these districts of Bihar are currently witnessing a spate of violence in the name of protests against the Agnipath scheme. And, all of them have one thing in common.
All these districts are in Southern Bihar and youths of these districts are overdependent on the jawan recruitment drives by Army for employment.
Right after Class 12, these youths apply to become a jawan in the Army — their ticket to a stable future and marriage prospects.
However, with the Agnipath scheme that has reduced the job duration from 15 years to just four, with only 20% eligible for a permanent commission, their dreams are nothing but shattered. The result is these protests backed by political opponents, who have been long waiting for a chance to wrestle back power from the incumbents.
NOT THE FIRST TIME
This is not the first time that youths in Bihar are on the road protesting against the state.
In January this year, massive protests and calls for Bihar Bandh were given by railway job aspirants due to irregularities in the RRB-NTPC exam. The usual routine of halting trains and stopping vehicles was observed even then. The crux of the problem remains — lack of industrialisation and private sector, which makes government jobs the only option.
Bihar has the second highest number of unemployed youth in the country at 38.84 lakh, according to a report by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE). Along with this, the unemployment rate in Bihar at 12.8% is much higher than the national unemployment rate of 7.7%. Ground surveys by various academicians and journalists have repeatedly revealed that the charm of government jobs hasn’t come down at all in Bihar. In shared rooms across urban centres, youths, in a group of 10-12, prepare for multiple government exams, including UPSC, SSC and Railways etc.
These surveys find that not only is the youth in Bihar unemployed, but is also underemployed. There are postgraduate people with NET qualification working for as low as ₹4,000 a month at coaching centres that again prepare students for many government exams.
The issue is that for the past few years, recruitment process for many of these government jobs hasn’t been initiated.
It has been more than three years since recruitment for jawans was undertaken. But this didn’t deter lakhs of youth from training to become a jawan at small-time institutes that have mushroomed across the landscape of South Bihar.
These institutes “guide” the aspirant youth to become “physically fit” from a very young age, so that they can qualify for the Armed Forces after Class 12.
HOPELESS PRIVATE SECTOR
Agnipath scheme is all set to hit the business of this coaching nexus as well.
The fault doesn’t lie with the coaching centres or students. Heightened hopes from the government sector for employment are a direct reflection of their hopelessness with the private sector.
In terms of industrialisation, Bihar is one of the least industrialised Indian states, with a contribution of just 19% to the state GDP. The number of factories in the state has come down.
Of all the Indian states, Bihar has the highest dependence on agriculture with more than 80% population dependent on farming and allied sectors for sustenance. It has a fertile land, but most farmers have small landholdings making land acquisition for setting up industries a Herculean task.
LAW AND ORDER, MIGRATION
What makes matters worse is Bihar’s long history of absence of foolproof law and order. The days of Lalu Prasad Yadav and extreme lawlessness are over, but small-time extortionists and goons haven’t yet vanished from the scene.
Lalu’s rule led to the worst kind of de-industrialisation in recorded history, with many industrial players such as Dalmias and Birlas bidding goodbye to the state. A welcome break came during Nitish Kumar’s initial years, but the state has again degenerated to the original murk.
According to a research, more than 50% of all Bihar families are affected by the trend of migration, with at least one family member in other states.
Skill development and education is also an area of core concern in Bihar. The gross enrolment ratio in higher education is just 14%, meaning only 14 of every 100 youth join college. Interestingly, skill development figures on Nitish government’s seven resolves to develop the state, but, on ground, the change is clearly not visible.
The political economy of Bihar is such that one of the most violent protests against the Agnipath scheme are being witnessed in the state. The palpable anger of the aspirant community who were preparing to become jawans and get recruitment of 15 years from Army since many years has become the right kind of fodder for political opponents of the ruling alliance.
In multiple phone calls, many of my sources in Bihar said a protest by the student community alone can’t become so violent, with trains being torched.
There is a clear political hand in aiding it, as the protests have spread to districts which are traditionally not associated with jawan recruitment in Bihar.
The key point is Bihar’s obsession with government jobs needs to come down. Even its old-time counterpart Uttar Pradesh is now focusing on job creation and labour retention to arrest the trend of migration.
It is time that Bihar did the same.
The author is a PhD in International Relations from the Department of International Relations, South Asian University. Views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not represent the stand of this publication.
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