Senseless tragedy

The irony is writ large. In response to an army recruitment drive in Chapra and Darbhanga in Bihar, 20,000 youth, aged mostly between 18 ...

The irony is writ large. In response to an army recruitment drive in Chapra and Darbhanga in Bihar, 20,000 youth, aged mostly between 18 and 21 and hailing from four districts, turn up to seize an opportunity to defend the nation. Yet, even as their heroes in Kargil reclaim the last of the strategic heights from the retreating enemy, at least 26 of the aspirants lose their lives as the proceedings turn tragically violent.

The poignance is underlined by the fact that just a day earlier, thousands of kilometres to the west in Bharatpur, a similarly overwhelming response leaves three dead in police firing as an estimated 50,000 boys, most of them under-qualified and lacking the requisite physical stamina, queue up for a few dozen openings. What went wrong? Was it police callousness? How could young men evidently being carried on a wave of patriotic fervour snatch a revolver and shoot a subedar? Given the thousands who have been turning up camps in other parts of the country in Amritsar 30,000 rural youthsshowed up in response to a meagre number of vacancies, why were adequate precautions not taken?

Inquiries which have already been ordered into the tragedy will address these questions, but no matter where the blame lies, the event must serve as a reality check for a nation hurtling unprepared into the twenty-first century. While the excessive enthusiasm on display last week to be in the army is no doubt a measure of the post-Kargil nationalist upsurge, it is also a sobering reminder of the country8217;s dismal employment scenario.

As India awaits the impending birth of its one billionth citizen, one must ask what kind of a world is being readied for him/her. Outdated labour laws and a largely unimplemented minimum wage are partially responsible for the widespread appeal of a government job, but all in all there are simply not enough jobs to go around. As India globalises, as economists and industry watchers exult over the consumer boom and worry about the fiscal deficit, let them not forget the other Indiabeing gradually removed from the paths to prosperity. The recruitment catastrophe underlines a sense of frustration, not just patriotic fervour.

Moreover, the army is but one example of the skewed human resource development in evidence. Army bosses have for some years been worrying about the quality of aspirants for officer-grade recruitment; yet on the other side of the spectrum they are being swamped for the few thousand lower-level appointments. Indeed, many of the aspirants who returned dejected last week did not even meet the educational qualifications.

This implies that something is amiss, that there is a glaring mismatch between job worthiness and educational attainment. Darbhanga is a sobering warning that all is not well with India8217;s educational and employment wars. How else does one account for a distressing incident where guns are trained on youngsters seeking a chance to fight for the nation?