"Temporary Job Paying 9,900 Won a Day"... Over 3,000 Applied for 100 Positions

Over 3,200 Compete for Just 100 Local Defense Volunteer Positions in India

In a region of Odisha, eastern India, more than 3,200 people took a written exam to compete for around 100 temporary police auxiliary positions. The daily wage for the job is 9,900 won. With a large number of highly educated applicants, it has become evident that the local job crisis is severe.

According to foreign media reports on the 29th, Indian broadcaster NDTV reported on the written exam for local defense force recruitment held the previous day at the battalion ground in Jharsuguda district, Odisha. The recruitment is for 102 local defense force members, which are temporary police auxiliary positions, offering a daily wage of 623 rupees (about 9,900 won).

India, over 3,200 applicants for 100 local defense force recruitments. Photo by NDTV

The authorities will select 1,010 candidates from the written exam, then conduct physical fitness tests for these individuals before choosing the final successful applicants. Initially, 4,040 people submitted applications, and about 3,200 attended the exam.

The competition rate based on the number of applicants was about 40 to 1, and anyone who completed fifth grade in elementary school was eligible to apply. Nevertheless, many highly educated individuals, including university graduates, those who completed or graduated from graduate school, and holders of technical certificates, took the exam. Some candidates commented that their participation was not to build their careers but simply for economic survival, indicating that highly educated young people are under immense pressure to secure a means of livelihood.

The situation is similar in other parts of Odisha. On the 16th, in Sambalpur, more than 8,000 people competed for 187 local defense force positions.

Although the minimum educational requirement was graduation from fifth grade in elementary school, many of the actual test-takers included those with master's and doctoral degrees, engineers, and graduates of government industrial training programs. Local authorities had to deploy surveillance drones to maintain order and prevent cheating.

With far more candidates than expected, many had to sit in lines on an airport runway to take the exam. This unusual scene went viral on social media, attracting a surge in views.

Last month, workers opposing the implementation of the new labor law in New Delhi. EPA Yonhap News archive photo

In Rourkela, nearly 9,000 people recently applied for an exam to recruit 202 local defense force members, with many highly educated applicants participating as well.

Experts and job seekers say that administrative authorities must urgently create more jobs in both the public and private sectors and shorten the recruitment cycle to address the crisis.

Meanwhile, last month, when the Indian federal government began implementing a new labor law, labor unions protested, claiming the law favors employers by making it easier to fire workers. The new labor law, which passed the federal parliament five years ago, allows businesses with 300 or fewer employees to dismiss workers without prior approval from the authorities and to sign fixed-term employment contracts.

The new labor law also includes provisions for setting a national minimum wage and extending social security coverage to gig workers, including delivery workers and other ultra-short-term temporary workers.