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The economy has failed to create enough good jobs, so a government post appeals to far more people than there are openings, fueling desperation.
India has been rocked by multiple scandals involving leaked exams this year, and the country’s government has scrambled to contain the fallout each time.
The distress caused by the leaks of questions on entrance exams for government jobs and higher education highlights the country’s deep inequality.
India’s economy is growing at an impressive rate, but much of the growth has occurred in the services sector, while growth in the labor-intensive manufacturing sector has stalled. It means there are not enough jobs for the youth of the world’s most populous nation. Nearly half of Indians still toil on farms, and a vast majority of private jobs do not provide the stability or social security benefits of formal employment.
In light of this, government jobs are a ticket to a brighter future and entrance tests offer a promise of escape from crushing inequality. The hope for some families is that if they invest resources in a child who studies hard and gets a government job, the family can achieve a degree of upward mobility.
Many of the young people we spoke to for this article about the frequency of exam leaks said they had given themselves a window of several years, stretching into their late 20s, to keep trying, year after year, in exams to qualify for government jobs.
Their lives revolve around test preparation and the ecosystem of tutoring centers and study spaces that has sprung up to meet demand. For many, this preparation becomes their life. When age catches up with them, they become cogs in the system: running study centers, tutoring others who are trying to achieve what they could not.