DC Edit | Focus On Jobs Welcome As Bihar Readies To Vote

As Bihar prepares to go to polls next week, the promise of free aid shines through. There is nothing surprising in the competitive bidding for the votes of the people of Bihar this time; The two alliances brought jobs into focus, the Mahagathbandhan led with the promise of one government job per family and the NDA had to follow almost identically the talk of creating one crore jobs in five years.

Whether such a scenario envisioned by rival alliances will actually come to fruition remains to be seen, but the promise of jobs itself could spark interest in a state accustomed to seeing the majority of working-age people migrating across the country in search of work.

If there is anything more eagerly sought after today than the traditional trio of ‘roti, kapda and makan’, it is jobs for youth in one of the country’s least developed major states. While the MGB’s promise of one job per family seemed high enough, this was further compounded by talk of a new law guaranteeing employment; If this law comes true, it will be a first in India.

The MGB manifesto came with a promise to bring back the old pension scheme, along with 200 units of free electricity per household and a monthly allowance of Rs 2,500 under the ‘Mai Bahin Yojana’ scheme for women. With the advantage of being in power, the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government had already unleashed money to give handsome monthly payments to women through the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana’.

The staggering cost to the exchequer does not seem to raise any concerns about the gift-giving practice, which could be a boon in the lives of the not-so-well-off, but is a disaster for the treasury, which is known to be nearly empty in many recently poll-bound states as it continues to borrow to bridge the gap between income and expenditure.

This sensitive issue of Bihar’s workforce often doing lower-paying jobs has also sparked backlash in the south, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi being reprimanded by Tamil Nadu chief minister MK Stalin for suggesting that members of the Bihar workforce were being exploited by DMK leaders, the same ones who had been invited to campaign for the MGB.

While it is true that some DMK leaders acted rudely by degrading Bihar’s migrant workers as ‘panipuriwallah’ and toilet cleaners, the Chief Minister took up the issue and said that the Prime Minister had lost credibility in his position as the Chief Minister of the country. Much of this can be dismissed on the grounds that it is inspired by the vile policies that the closeness of the polls inspire, except that the issue has to do with respect for the dignity of labour.

There is no doubt that the biggest concern facing Generation Z is about work, career and a life to live, and these are not enough to appeal to the increasing number of young people. It is a reflection of the state of Bihar that working age people are leaving the state. However, employment creation is now being talked about, at least thanks to the fact that political parties are in the fight for votes.