Lack of jobs in Bengal compels great number of young people to move out of state to look for work

Poll day: Voices of anguish from the youth

Debraj Mitra, Subhankar Chowdhury, Jhinuk Mazumdar, Snehal Sengupta, TT, Calcutta, 02.06.24 : Anushka in Bijoygarh, Ipshita in Regent Estate, Indrasish in Bhowanipore and Vatsala in Bangur.

They don’t know one another but share a predicament that binds a great number of young people in Calcutta — the compulsion to move out of the city because there aren’t enough jobs here.

The cry for jobs rang out loud among young voters across Calcutta on poll day.

Many of them who got their fingers inked on Saturday had come from Chennai, Bangalore and other places that have offered them what their hometown could not — a job commensurate with their qualification.

They voted because they wanted to send the message that creating jobs should top the “to-do” list of whoever comes to power.

“I am always worried about my family. But I am hundreds of miles away. I was forced to move out because I did not get enough opportunities here,” said Anushka Guha, 22, an engineer working in Chennai with a multinational information technology services company.

Anushka’s mother and grandmother live in Bijoygarh. The latter suffered deep cuts on her head when she fell at her home a couple of months ago.

“I felt so helpless. I am not alone. There are so many like me who have been forced to leave Bengal for want of jobs,” Anushka said outside a polling booth inside a school in Bijoygarh, part of the Jadavpur Lok Sabha constituency.

Vatsala Poddar, 25, voted at Bangur Town Hall, which is part of the Barasat constituency. She shifted to the Karnataka capital six months ago to work in the marketing team of an e-commerce company. Before that, she spent two years working for a different company in Calcutta. Vatsala said there were “limited growth opportunities” here.

“There is a big difference in pay in Calcutta and other big cities. The cost of living is going up. But a well-paying job can offset inflation,” said Vatsala.

Sourish De, 21, is pursuing an MBA course from a private university in New Town. The course fee is around ₹8 lakh. “It is a lot of money. My father arranged for it. I have to land a well-paying job so I can live up to his expectations. But going by the job scene in Bengal and the feedback from seniors, the prospects in Calcutta seem bleak,” he said.

Most of the people this newspaper spoke to said they were surprised to see how the mainstream poll campaign did not give due importance to the need to create more jobs.

The election campaign has witnessed toxic polarisation. The BJP’s campaign pitch has kept swinging — from a Viksit Bharat by 2047 to fear-mongering about the Congress manifesto and the alleged appeasement of Muslims. Trinamool, on the other hand, has flaunted welfare schemes like Lakshmir Bhandar.

“From what I have seen, most leaders have not talked about jobs as much as they should have,” said Tiyasha Goswami, 22, a voter in Chinar Park, part of the Barasat constituency.

Tiyasha, who is pursuing a postgraduate multimedia course from St Xavier’s College (Autonomous), Calcutta, said she was “very scared” of the employment prospects, “not only in Bengal but across the country”.

“Not everyone can manage to go abroad,” Tiyasha said outside a polling station.

The Indian economy, despite its GDP numbers, has failed to generate enough jobs for the country’s large and expanding young population.

Ipshita Moitra, a techie with a pharma company in Bengaluru, voted at a school in Regent Estate. “I am aware of the freebies and doles that the Mamata Banerjee government is known for. I don’t have a problem with them. But the focus should be on the creation of jobs,” said Moitra.

Indrasish Majumdar, 29, who lives near Jadubabur Bazar in Bhowanipore (Kolkata South), works with a tech services company in Pune. His father suffers from acute renal problems and needs dialysis regularly.

“It is a pity that I cannot stay with my parents. They have spent a lot on my education. Now, I have to take care of them financially as well. Staying in Calcutta, I cannot earn as much as in other Metro cities,” he said after casting his vote on Saturday.

Koustav Ghosh, 24, who voted in New Town (Barasat), was worried about the rising cost of education. Koustav is pursuing an MBA course.

“The cost of these courses are rising across the country. But the job prospects are

becoming grimmer. The future is uncertain for us,” he said.