Amidst the clamour for inclusion in the OBC list by Patels in Gujarat, the news on jobs is truly disturbing. Over 23 lakh candidates applied for 368 posts of peons advertised by the UP government. Applicants include those with degrees like BTech, MSc and MCom, besides 255 youths with PhDs.

Just a few days before it, an unprecedented 75,000 people applied for 30 posts of peons in Chhattisgarh Government’s Directorate of Economics and Statistics. The applicants included postgraduates and qualified engineers. This raises two issues – how serious is the challenge of unemployment and how glamorous are government jobs in a context where there are few jobs in the private sector?

The demand for inclusion in the list of OBCs by different castes, which facilitates reservation in government jobs and educational institutions, has to be examined against this backdrop. First, how did government jobs become so glamorous?

Under British rule, the salary structure of British officials was mindboggling. Following the Regulating Act of 1773, the Governor-General of Bengal was paid £25,000 annually while councillors were paid £10,000 each. They are known as the halcyon days of the Company’s servants, most of whom managed to make large fortunes.

The Government of India Act, 1909, provided for reservation in political representation for Muslims and depressed classes. After Independence, the Constitution provided for reservation in jobs and political representation for SCs and STs.

But provision was made for reservation in jobs for OBCs by the first constitutional amendment in 1951by adding Article 15(4) to the Constitution. This has created the biggest problem as there are no objective criteria to determine who are socially and educationally backward.

This has meant that the philosophy behind affirmative action – that it levels the playing field in favour of those classes which were historically discriminated against – was effectively consigned to the flames. At present reservation is being given not to the weak but to the strong who can bend the government to their will.

Jats were included in the central list of OBCs just before 2014 Lok Sabha elections, even though the OBC Commission had recommended against it. Ultimately, the Supreme Court struck it down. Now Patels, one of the richest castes, are demanding reservations. Even Rajputs of Gujarat have raised a similar demand.

The only reasons behind this scramble for government jobs is security and handsome salaries which were enhanced out of all proportion to per capita income by the Fifth and Sixth Pay Commissions, and the prevalent culture of palm greasing. In the private sector some top-notch employees may be getting astronomical pay packets, but the average salary structure is many times lower than in government jobs.

The practice of earning underhand is another big attraction even though most government employees do not actually have much scope for realising such returns. The British introduced a culture in which government jobs were considered white collar while other labour did not have much dignity. We are still stuck with it.