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Whilebusily deny the economic slowdown and claim crores of jobs have been created, the picture is much grimmer on ground. A number of young professionals, who have lost work in just the last few months owing to the ongoing crisis, are resorting to desperate measures for survival — and they are now seeing monetisation opportunities bang in the throes ofA number of such unmoored employees in the city have turned tocampaigning to earn just a few hundred rupees per day. And, while they are merely trying to earn a living, getting graduates on board is proving to be a win-win situation for political parties.One such person is Ghorpade Peth resident Ashish Samal, in his early twenties now, equipped with a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering and a Master’s in political science to boot. After completing his studies a few years ago, Samal working in an engineering firm here, earning enough to fulfill his day-to-day needs. But when the recession rolled in, his company asked him to resign two months ago. Samal’s intense search for a job yielded naught for weeks, till he heard he could earn working for a political party candidate. He contacted an agent and immediately, the job was his. Samal shared, “My parents have spent a lot on my education. When I lost my job, I could not ask them to pay more. I decided to start doing whatever is available. Now, I work for six-seven hours a day and get paid Rs 500-700 for it. It’s not permanent, but at least I earn something.”His friend Akshay Gholap, a resident of Guruwar Peth, is another mechanical engineer who was sacked from his job a month ago, after working for two years. A common friend told him about the opportunity, and it has been three days since he signed up. “It isn’t direct campaigning — we distribute voter’s slips in various societies. We are designated areas and party vehicles drop us there. At least 200 slips is the target per day. Once this is done, we can return,” he shared.More than 800 such unemployed youths have joined this trend, with a few becoming agents to coordinate between political parties and the workforce. One such campaign incharge, Ravindra Meher, explained, “We have gathered a group of 75 youngsters and split them into three groups, sending 25 to one area in a day. Through a mobile app, they search for the names of voters and distribute slips insocieties, marked with the names of candidates. We employ a range — from students to professors and techies. Even professors earn more doing this than what they get on a clockhour basis, barely Rs 150 per hour. As unemployment rises, anything available is proving useful for workers.”Naturally, political parties have no problems getting an educated and young wave of people on board. An office-bearer of one such outfit, preferring to stay unnamed, said, “Initially, we recruited residents of slums for our rallies, but with graduates joining up, we can also portray an improved image of our party. No candidate would mind spending a little more on that. The app also puts us forth as tech-savvy. We infinitely prefer these recruitments to regular ones.”