Every few months, we hear encouraging news about India’s economy. GDP is growing, India is becoming a larger economic power, new industries are emerging and the country is being presented as one of the world’s fastest-growing major economies.
These are certainly achievements worth recognising.
But there is another India that we rarely see in GDP announcements.
It is the India of the young graduate sitting at home after years of education. The India of a young man preparing for one competitive examination after another because he cannot find a suitable job. The India of parents who spend their savings on their children’s education and then watch them wait for years for an opportunity.
This raises a difficult question:
If the economy is growing so rapidly, why are so many educated young people still struggling to find decent and secure employment?
The question is not intended to deny India’s economic progress. It is about asking whether the benefits of that progress are reaching ordinary households with the speed and fairness that they deserve.
The graduate’s dilemma
Walk into any town where competitive examinations have become a way of life and one can understand this problem without looking at a statistical table. Young people spend years preparing for government examinations. They sit in libraries, coaching centres and reading rooms. They postpone marriage and other personal decisions. Their parents continue to support them.
Then comes another examination. Another application. Another waiting list. Another uncertainty.
There is nothing wrong with aspiring for a government job. Government employment offers stability, social security and dignity. The problem arises when millions of educated young people are competing for a very limited number of secure positions because the economy has not created enough alternative jobs that match their qualifications and expectations. Recent reporting has highlighted the extraordinary competition for government positions, including cases in which hundreds of thousands of applicants competed for only a few hundred posts.
Behind such competition is not simply a desire for a government salary.
There is fear. Fear of an uncertain future, of wasting years of education and the fear of becoming financially dependent on parents. And, perhaps most painful is the fear of being left behind while others move ahead.
GDP is important—but GDP is not the whole story!
A growing GDP tells us that the economy is producing more goods and services. It is an important measure of economic performance.
But an ordinary family does not experience GDP directly. A family experiences the economy through its monthly income, the price of food, the cost of education, medical expenses, rent, transport and, above all, the availability of meaningful work.
A young person does not ask, “What is the country’s GDP growth rate?”
He or she asks: “Will I get a job?”
A father does not calculate national output while paying his child’s college fee. He wonders whether his son or daughter will eventually become financially independent.
This is why economic growth must ultimately be judged by what it does to people’s lives.
The inequality hidden behind the growth story
There is another issue that cannot be ignored—economic disparity.
Growth can coexist with inequality.
One part of society may accumulate wealth, own businesses, property and financial assets, while another struggles to secure stable employment.
This creates a dangerous psychological divide.
A young person who has studied for years and still cannot find work may see others of the same age living comfortably—not necessarily because they worked harder, but because they were born into better economic circumstances.
This does not mean that wealth itself is a problem. The concern is whether opportunity is becoming increasingly dependent on family background rather than ability and effort.
If a child’s future depends heavily on the economic position of his or her parents, then the promise of social mobility begins to weaken.
The silent cost of unemployment
Unemployment is not merely an economic statistic.
It affects confidence.
It affects families.
It affects marriages.
It affects mental well-being.
It affects the way young people see their own future.
A person who remains unemployed for years may slowly begin to question his or her own worth—even when the real problem is the shortage of opportunities.
This is why employment policy cannot be treated merely as another economic indicator. A job is not only a source of income. It is also a source of dignity, independence and hope.
Growth must finally reach the doorstep
The debate should not be about whether GDP growth is real or whether economic progress should be celebrated.
It should be about something more fundamental:
What kind of growth are we creating, and for whom?
A country becomes truly prosperous when economic progress reaches the ordinary household. When a graduate finds meaningful work. When a family does not have to spend its entire savings on keeping an educated child unemployed for years.
India’s economic story should certainly be a story of rising GDP. But it should also be a story of rising opportunities, rising incomes and rising dignity. Because at the end of the day, the success of an economy should not be measured only by the size of its numbers. It should also be measured by the number of young people who can look towards tomorrow without fear.
Email: paryazdot11@gmail.com
