Saturday, June 13, 2009

Jobs for all?

And the new government has settled in. And of course it is more of the same – did anyone seriously expect anything else? The stock market seems to be picking up, though I am not sure about the job market. Mr. Dimple Cheeks is still not a Minister, though everyone has predicted he will become Prime Minister in two years (is it just a coincidence that in two years time, he will be as old as his father was when he was thrust into the same role?).

Normally, I would have slid back into cynicism by now. But one statement of Dimple Cheeks keeps me hopeful. When accosted by a voter in Amethi, saying, “Do you remember me? I am the person you promised a job to last time you were here”, he immediately shot back “You must be confusing me with someone else. I never promise jobs. I only promise what I can deliver. To get a job you need to study and work hard.”

At least he has his pulse on one of the real problems ailing the country. Had fewer jobs been given out in the last few decades and more of them earned, we may just have been much better off.

I still hope.

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2 comments:

Unknown said...

I am an optimist also. I still have hope that the changing administrations (U.K., U.S. and elsewhere) will stop corruption, improve our socioeconomic status and help the middle class. Until then, however, I instruct my students (and kids at home) to work hard and depend on yourself, because there probably won't be anyone to give you a free handout.

Natasha said...

That is the bottom line, isn't it Chary? You have to assume that nobody is going to do anything much for you, and you have to make the most of yourself. If a windfall comes, you are lucky, but assume it will not.

In India, for so many decades, you thought the only way to get jobs was by knowing someone who knew someone. And those people never did their jobs either, because the same someones known by someones would ensure you were not kicked out. Where does that leave a country?

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