The taciturn response of Ladakhi stakeholders to the arbitrary and autocratic recruitment style is beyond understanding. The state is testing the patience of the already frustrated youth. Since it was designated as a Union Territory, many jobs have been sold to private agencies through outsourcing. Additionally, the trend of temporary recruitment has intensified in recent years.

The over-emphasis and supply of temporary human resources not only hamper the quality of work production but also raise a serious concern about the intention of the UT administration regarding the recruitment process.

The unemployed youth of Ladakh are stuck in this puzzling and unprecedented web of recruitment systems. They have no option but to join these temporary posts with meagre pay to cover their expenses. One such recent recruitment was advertised by the Chief Education Officer (LAHDC) Kargil under No: CEO-K/Samagra/2024/07. The pay scale offered to graduates under this notice vividly indicates that the administration is exploiting the unemployed youth and taking advantage of their helplessness. One of the positions is titled “CRC Coordinator” and offers a monthly salary of 7,500 Rupees.The payment scale does not even satisfy the Ministry of Labour & Employment criteria fixed for unskilled labourers.

* Click to Follow Voice of Ladakh on WhatsApp *

The extension and propagation of such an arbitrary recruitment trend is a collective failure of civil society. Temporary recruitment not only exploits educated youth but also wastes their productive years. Despite being awarded the status of the second-highest state for graduate unemployment, with 26.5 percent, the administration of Ladakh has not taken proactive steps to tackle the grave issue of unemployment. Furthermore, the state systematically pushes educated youth into a dilemma by recruiting them for temporary positions.

The designation of all these posts is temporary and for need-based purposes. The recruitment body reserves the right to terminate employees at any stage without any prior notice or solid rationale. One such autocratic incident surfaced recently when outsourced employees were terminated from their positions without any prior information. Citing the narrative of one employee, Diskit, a press note on the official website of UT Ladakh states that nobody from the administration, vendor, or agencies informed them that June 30 would be their last day on the job. Whereas, the temporary teachers recruited for academic arrangements under ‘Samagra’ have been offered their service without pay since they joined. These are nothing but the “dehumanization” of educated youth, a term I selected consciously after analyzing the fractured and collapsed recruitment system of Ladakh. How does the administration expect an employee to join for 250 Rupees per day? If this is not dehumanization and atrocity, what is?

Outsourcing and temporary recruitment have also compromised the quality of work in various departments. Previously, the School Education department was reluctant to adopt such a recruitment system, but in recent years, they too have started recruiting temporary teachers. The latest CBSE results indicate this compromise in quality, with the pass percentage plunging to 53.08 percent for Class 10th and 41.59 percent for Class 12th. I am not blaming the temporary teachers for this decline in results, but policymakers have failed to maintain the status quo and standard of education. Merely supplying human resources to the schools is not enough; to maintain and deliver quality content, teachers need to feel secure both financially and mentally, which is lacking in temporary recruitment.

Another drawback of this recruitment trend is that it consumes the most productive and active years of these youths. The majority of these aspirants are graduates, and they are at their peak age of human development. These temporary positions last for four to five years and, in some exceptional cases, a few additional years. After that, they are terminated from their service. The famous English proverb “milking to the hilt” perfectly defines the situation of these youths. The administration is taking maximum benefit from them by exploiting their proactive and energetic years of life.

The stakeholders need to understand the tactics of the state and should discourage their wards from joining such temporary positions. If the citizens of Ladakh are not concerned about this trend, the administration may not prioritize filling permanent vacancies. If we continue to allow our youth to take these temporary positions, the “social dislocation” of Ladakh is not far off, and we should be prepared to face the catastrophe caused by social dislocation.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Voice of Ladakh, its editorial team, or its affiliated organizations.