As assembly elections to Rajasthan’s 200-member assembly draw near, the state is witnessing a keen contest between the ruling Congress government and the opposition BJP.
Last month, during a rally in chief minister Ashok Gehlot’s Sardarpura constituency in Jodhpur, Prime Minister Narendra Modi slammed the Congress government saying that the “paper leak mafia” has ruined the future of lakhs of youth in Rajasthan, news agency PTI reported.
Meanwhile, last week, Gehlot lambasted the Central govt after the Enforcement Directorate (ED) raided the premises of Rajasthan Congress president Govind Singh Dotasra in Jaipur and Sikar as part of a probe into a money-laundering case related to exam paper leak. On 26 October, Gehlot’s son Vaibhav was summoned by the ED in a foreign exchange violation case.
Reacting to this, Gehlot told reporters at a press conference, "Raids have happened (before too) but Congress won the elections. The situation is worrisome. They have unleashed terror in the country."
Asserting that the “Congress will not be scared no matter how hard they try,” Gehlot claimed that the BJP was targeting him through ED raids as the party could not topple his government, Mint reported.
Rajasthan – where at least 12 recruitment exams have reportedly been cancelled since 2018 due to paper leaks – has over 18.4 lakh unemployed youth in the state.
Before the state goes to poll on 25 November, let’s take a look at how Rajasthan fares on the scale of joblessness:
‘Over 18.4 Lakh Unemployed in Rajasthan, 2nd-Highest Jobless Rate in India’
In response to a question by BJP MLA Satish Poonia in Rajasthan Assembly in February this year, the Congress government stated that there are 18,40,044 registered unemployed youth in the state. Of these, over 11 lakh are men and 7 lakh are women.
In addition, according to a report in Deccan Herald, of the total 18.4 lakh registered jobless youth, 14,40,916 are graduates and at least 1,01,956 have studied beyond graduation as on February 21, 2023.
Rajasthan minister Ashok Chandana added that of the total, unemployment allowance is being given to 1,90,873 eligible candidates, including 1,07,431 men and 83,442 women, PTI reported.
According to data reported by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), Rajasthan has the second highest unemployment rate at 26.4 percent after Haryana’s 26.8 percent as of 1 April 2023.
This means that one in every four people from the workforce is jobless in Rajasthan. The state’s unemployment rate is over three times higher than the national average of 7.8 percent as of 1 April 2023.
It is important to note that while the average national unemployment rate reduced after shooting to nearly 10 percent in FY 2020-21 in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic-led shutdown across the country, Rajasthan’s jobless rate has only increased since 2016.
Six months ahead of the assembly elections, Gehlot’s government had passed the Rajasthan Minimum Guaranteed Income Bill, 2023, which promised to provide 125 days of employment in a financial year to all families across rural and urban areas and a minimum monthly pension of Rs 1,000 to the elderly, people with disabilities, widows and single women. He had also announced 1 lakh jobs while presenting the state budget this year.
The bill also mentioned that if the government fails to provide employment within 15 days of receiving an application, the jobseeker will be entitled to an unemployment allowance on a weekly basis and in any case not later than a fortnight.
'26 Exam Papers Leaked in Last 10 Years'
Even though the political contest in Rajasthan remains largely bipolar, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is also trying to make a dent in the vote share. While campaigning in the state in June this year, AAP National Convener Arvind Kejriwal too had cornered the ruling Congress government over alleged paper leaks in the state.
"26 exam papers leaked in the last 10 years…it is not a leak, the papers and the future of children are sold. This has never happened in Delhi during the AAP government,” Hindustan Times reported Kejriwal as saying. The chief minister of Delhi also promised jobs if his party comes to power in Rajasthan.
This issue was raked up by former deputy chief minister of Rajasthan and Congress leader Sachin Pilot against his own government during a rally in Barmer in May this year.
“Students work hard for years; parents have to spend so much money for their tuition and coaching; but when they go to write the exam, it gets cancelled because the question paper was leaked. Why is there a delay in investigating these cases and giving justice?” he had remarked.
This was followed by the state assembly passing the Rajasthan Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) (Amendment) Bill, 2023, which increased the maximum punishment for leaking question papers of government recruitment exams from a jail term for 10 years to life imprisonment. The Act, that made paper leaks a punishable offence, was passed by the Rajasthan government last year.
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