Degrees in Despair: When MBAs Line Up for Constable Jobs
Madhya Pradesh police holds a meeting in Bhopal. (Image credit X.com_
India’s employment crisis isn’t about unemployment alone-it’s about the collapse of credible pathways between education and enterprise.
By P SESH KUMAR
New Delhi, October 12, 2025 — India’s job market paradox is now a spectacle: tens of thousands of educated youth, carrying degrees that once symbolized upward mobility, are competing for low-skill government jobs. The spectacle of MBAs, engineers, and PhDs applying for constable posts in Madhya Pradesh shatters the glossy narrative of India’s “start-up boom” and “MSME revolution.”
It seems that Indian economy is producing qualifications faster than it produces confidence, and a generation that has turned from start-up dreams to the safety net of a khaki uniform.
The Queue That Shamed the Dream
It was a scene straight out of a tragicomic movie. At a recruitment centre in Bhopal, the line snaked endlessly. At one end stood young men clutching degrees from Tier-2 engineering colleges; at the other, women with MBAs and M.Com certificates rolled neatly in plastic folders. All waiting for a shot at a job that pays roughly ₹20,000–25,000 a month and demands a Class-10 pass certificate. Nine lakh applicants for 7,500 posts—a ratio so absurd that it mocks every government claim about “job creation.”
One young man told a local reporter, “I completed my M.Tech, but even software firms in Indore aren’t hiring. My parents say a government job means peace of mind. Constable ho jao- at least salary to time se milegi.” His words cut through the economic jargon better than any budget speech.
Behind him stood a PhD holder from Ujjain University. When asked why he was applying, he replied wryly, “At least I will get to enforce the law I once wrote a thesis on.”
This is not satire; it’s the story of contemporary India-an aspirational society trapped in the gap between degrees and dignity.
The Mirage of “Job Creation”
For years, governments have brandished impressive numbers: 6.4 crore MSMEs employing 11 crore people, 30 percent of GDP, 45 percent of exports. On paper, India looks like a factory of opportunity. But scratch beneath the surface and most MSMEs are one-person enterprises-the shopkeeper, the tailor, the small contractor-barely surviving, not expanding. They “employ” because they self-employ.
The start-up ecosystem tells a similar story. For every Paytm, there are a thousand ghost ventures that folded quietly when the funding tap dried. The rhetoric of “Atmanirbhar Bharat” and “Digital India” sounds noble, but a start-up culture cannot thrive on slogans; it needs credit, customers, and certainty. An MBA in Indore or Nagpur cannot eat “ease of doing business” rankings for lunch.
The government’s own data show that formal job creation-those offering contracts, EPF coverage, and predictable wages-lags far behind the growth in degrees. That is why overqualified youth flood Class III and Class IV posts: not because they lack ambition, but because ambition has been punished by an economy that romanticizes entrepreneurs while abandoning employees.
The Psychology of the Sarkari Dream
Ask any applicant why they prefer a police constable’s post over a start-up hustle, and the answer is immediate: “security.” In India, a government job isn’t just employment-it’s social insurance, marital eligibility, and parental approval rolled into one.
The irony is sharp. The same government that urges youth to “be job creators, not job seekers” remains the only trusted recruiter. Every recruitment advertisement is an act of mass hypnosis-lakhs sit for an exam whose odds are worse than winning a lottery. Yet they persist, because the market outside feels like a casino.
It is not incompetence that drives an MBA to a constable’s uniform; it is loss of trust. Trust that degrees lead to opportunity, that merit leads to reward, and that risk-taking won’t end in ruin.
Anatomy of a Broken Promise
India produces nearly 1.5 million engineers every year, yet employability surveys reveal that only 15–20 percent land jobs suited to their training. The rest drift through coaching centres, gig work, or long unemployment. The labour-market structure is the culprit: too few mid-skill formal jobs, too many credentialed aspirants, and regional clustering of industries that forces migration without safety nets.
Meanwhile, MSME credit schemes such as MUDRA and PMEGP boast high sanction numbers but low survival rates. Start-ups that survive the early stages face delayed payments, compliance overload, and credit droughts. The result? A youth cohort that measures “success” not by innovation but by the date of the next SSC or police recruitment notice.
An Anecdote from the Ground
A small anecdote from Rewa captures this better than any statistic. Ravi Shukla, 26, an MBA graduate from Jabalpur, had once tried to start a logistics aggregator service linking kirana stores with small transporters. Two years later, burdened by GST filings, delayed payments, and unresponsive banks, he shut shop. “Now I just want a job that pays every month,” he said, showing his constable exam admit card. “I’ve seen too much freedom.”
Ravi is not lazy; he is tired. He represents millions who were told they were India’s demographic dividend but ended up as its default option.
Make risk-taking less ruinous
The lesson is stark: India’s employment crisis isn’t about unemployment alone-it’s about the collapse of credible pathways between education and enterprise. To bridge that chasm, reforms must focus on making risk-taking less ruinous and stable work more abundant. MSME policy should pivot from subsidies and slogans to predictable credit, prompt payments, and local-market linkages. Start-ups need less hero worship and more infrastructure-legal, logistical, and psychological.
Equally vital is an overhaul of vocational education: apprenticeships tied directly to local industries, not textbook fantasies. If we can create a nation where a graduate trusts a private job as much as a government one, the constable queues will finally shrink.
Until then, India will continue to produce more degrees than dignity, and more start-up speeches than start-up survivors.
(This is an opinion piece, and views expressed are those of the author only)
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