With the general elections round the corner, quite a lot of
pending work has to be hastened up before the model code of conduct gets
implemented. One of them is appointment to the department at the district
level. Last week, the process to induct a few skilled workers to the district
police voluntary force started. A staggering number of twelve hundred people had applied
for around thirty posts and had attached
degrees attesting their qualifications which were much more than our modest
requirements. We, at the recruitment cell, were bracing for a tough week
handling over qualified candidates, numerous recommendations, sob stories et al.
But, what started with a resounding bang ended with not even
a meek whimper. Candidates boasting to be computer software engineers( and
surprisingly, competing for a contractual job paying a paltry salary) could not
type a simple document on the computer, supposedly qualified plumbers could not
fix up leaking taps, electricians had troubles fixing up tube lights properly
and nobody really wanted to work as a sweeper. This, in other words, meant a
huge problem was at hand. We had to meet deadlines, fill up posts, and we badly
needed skilled people. On the top of it, the state police was taking up an
ambitious computerization project and we badly needed staff with a decent hand
in computers. Seems such a simple ask was actually asking for the Godot in one
of the most literate and developed districts of the state. For, the degrees
existed only in paper; the skills were certified in black and white but not in
practice. What began as a feeling that I
could be a fussy child picking my way through the choicest gifts turned into a
veritable nightmare. My cup of woes was full because I could not find a
remotely employable person with some specialized skills. To top it and add to
the exasperation, my colleagues quite timidly put forth that the candidates may
be lacking in talent, skills but what they didn't lack in was moolah to bribe
the recruiters and buy jobs for themselves. Already beleaguered by all sorts of
people calling, pleading and begging for their protégés, I was really, really
angry. Angry about being surrounded by people who claim to be worshippers of a
Arvind Kejriwal or a Anna Hazare but have no scruples themselves. Angry at
youngsters for not willing to learn, not willing to be sincere at their vocations
but just taking shortcuts. Angry at so many others for recommending useless
chaffs for jobs they hardly deserved. Yes, poverty is always invoked to make us
sentimental enough and dole out jobs. But, my perennial issue is as to why this
tearful song of poverty is always used to goad and emotionally cripple a
recruiter to give away a job but is never played to goad these youngsters to
work hard and resolutely to polish their skills and make themselves worthy. Yes,
I was and am angry and disturbed that we are slowly becoming a skill starved
society with loads of bunkum talk but nothing to show by way of actions. All we
want are backdoor entries to everywhere. Not our style to work hard and prove
ourselves. Not the life of a proud lion, but the life of a slinking hyena.
Maybe, it was a frustrating exercise and the very thought of
starting a hunt again within a short span is mentally exhausting, but the nagging fear
which persists is that whether a severe skill crunch is the reality of the
present and would be a legacy of the future. No doubt, we are proud to be the
country of some of the most talented people of the world but some bright brains
can never compensate for a mediocre, trudging majority. Our pedagogy and a
whole lot of ancillary factors are responsible for this. But my anger remains-
why do we denounce corruption so much when as individuals, we are salivating to
corrupt or be corrupted at the slightest opportunity? This is an issue which
requires a special reflection. Which I should put off immediately for another
day to concentrate on my undone job of recruiting a few averagely talented
blokes for some very simple jobs.
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