By T. Chiranjeevulu IAS(Ret), Founder President BCIF( BC Intellectuals Forum)
"Water – Funds – Jobs"… these were the slogans that gave life to the Telangana movement. "Jobs" is an issue tied to the lives of lakhs of Telangana youth. The perception that Telangana was denied its fair share of government jobs in united Andhra Pradesh was one of the strongest foundations of the movement. The argument that outsiders had taken over jobs meant for locals carried the Telangana movement from universities to villages. That is why, during the movement, political parties and movement leaders gave assurances like "When Telangana comes, every household will get a job," "We will fill all vacant posts," and "Telangana youth will get justice in employment." Thousands of students and unemployed youth believed these promises and joined the movement. Many set aside their education and career opportunities to fight for the formation of the state, sacrificing their lives' prospects. Now, twelve years after the formation of Telangana, a question echoes in the mind of every unemployed youth: how far have their dreams about jobs actually been fulfilled since Telangana was formed?
Telangana has around 5.20 lakh government jobs. After the state's bifurcation, the BRS government filled 1.60 lakh posts. In the past two and a half years of Congress rule, around 65,000 posts were filled, but roughly the same number of employees retired during that period. The criticism that government jobs were not filled at the pace people expected during the movement is, in fact, valid. Even though thousands of posts fall vacant every year due to retirements in government departments, no system has been put in place to fill them promptly. Delays in recruitment processes, the appointment of unqualified members to the Telangana Public Service Commission for political reasons, postponed exams, paper leaks, and legal disputes have all caused deep frustration among unemployed youth. The fact that not a single Group-1 post was filled in the first eleven years shows just how little priority the rulers gave to unemployment.
Everyone remembers how strongly the slogan "Telangana jobs for Telangana people" echoed during the movement. Yet even today, outsiders are given priority — from nominated posts to many government positions — hurting the sentiments of locals. Governments have claimed to have brought in a law providing 95 percent reservation in local jobs. But what good are reservation laws if they remain only on paper while vacant posts themselves are not filled? Without filling jobs, reservation cannot translate into actual opportunity.
For real social justice to be implemented in Telangana, the government must urgently resolve several key policy issues. GO 29, related to Group-1 selections, sparked large protests over the perception that it was unjust to candidates from backward and weaker sections. Similarly, GO 46, related to police recruitment, drew objections from many who felt it was unfair to youth from the Telangana region. Both issues raised questions about equality in employment opportunities. Unemployed youth are also demanding an increase in the age limit for competitive exams. Meanwhile, even though many industries are being set up in Telangana, the lack of adequate employment opportunities or protective measures like reservations for local youth in private industries is a serious concern. When industries are established using the state's natural resources, land, and government incentives, providing adequate job opportunities to locals should also be considered a social responsibility. Therefore, it is hard to say that social justice has been fully achieved in Telangana without comprehensively addressing issues like the Group-1 recruitment policy, police recruitment rules, and employment opportunities for locals in industries. True social justice is realized only when the fruits of development reach all sections of society equally.
Another major betrayal was the decision to raise the retirement age of government employees from 58 to 61 years. While the government claims this decision was taken to retain the services of experienced staff, unemployed youth feel that it has closed off pathways for job vacancies to open up. Where one senior position vacated could have created room for two or three junior appointments, instead the retirement age was raised and retirement benefits deferred, with the savings diverted to irrigation projects — depriving the unemployed for the rulers' own benefit, with no other apparent motive. Likewise, large numbers of retired officials from dominant castes have been reappointed, exposing the casteist bias at play. On top of this, large numbers of jobs are being given to outsiders.
This is not merely a problem of government jobs. It is a question of social justice, the future of youth, and the development of the state. This problem is most starkly visible in the higher education sector.
During the Telangana movement, the goal of "free, quality education from KG to PG" was announced. But today, the situation in the state's public universities is the complete opposite of that goal. For twelve years, large-scale regular faculty recruitment has not taken place in many universities. Thousands of posts remain vacant. Instead, the education system continues to run on guest faculty, contract staff, and hourly-basis teachers. Research, teaching, and the quality of education are all being affected as a result. A university is not just buildings; it is the intellectual exchange between talented faculty, researchers, and students. How can quality education be possible in institutions without permanent faculty? Students are asking whether this is the "educational Telangana" the movement once dreamed of. Meanwhile, private universities are mushrooming across the state. Telangana's Private Universities Act came in 2018, and already 20 private universities have come up. Against 19 public universities in the state sector, there are now 20 universities in the private sector. These private universities are not required to follow any reservation policy in their hiring. While Telangana's youth struggle for jobs, these private universities — largely run under the dominance of privileged castes — are dealing a serious blow to the opportunities of Telangana's youth by not following any reservation norms. Quality higher education must not be limited to the wealthy alone; it must also be accessible to children from ordinary families, which makes the strengthening of public universities essential.
Ashok Nagar in Hyderabad today is not just a locality; it has become a symbol of the hopes, anxieties, and endless waiting of Telangana's unemployed youth. Thousands of young people spend years there preparing for competitive exams, pouring the most valuable years of their lives into the wait. Their lives pass in waiting — for a notification, for an exam, for a result.
Everyone hoped that after Telangana was formed, relief would come for the youth who had been forced to migrate to the Gulf for work. But that hope has not been realized. Even today, rural Bahujan youth continue to leave for unskilled jobs in Gulf countries just to survive. The government has shown no real initiative in upskilling them or helping them secure better jobs abroad, and as a result their lives continue to wither away.
For any nation, its youth are its true investment. A country that does not invest in its youth has no future. India today has the largest youth population in the world. Around 55 crore people between the ages of 21 and 45 are the country's greatest wealth. As valuable as natural resources, minerals, land, and industries are, nothing is more valuable than a nation's youth power, because it is youth — not buildings or budgets — that build a nation's future. In economics, there is a concept called the "demographic dividend." When a large share of the population is of working age, and that population is given quality education, skills, and jobs, the nation develops rapidly. But if that same youth population lacks education, skills, and employment opportunities, that demographic advantage turns into a "demographic disaster." There's a well-known saying about youth: "For a year's profit, grow grain; for ten years' profit, grow orchards; for a hundred years of development, invest in youth." This remains an eternal truth. Investment in youth transforms not just an individual, but a family, a community, and ultimately an entire nation. Unfortunately, today's rulers are more focused on electoral politics than on building youth into genuine partners in national development. This is precisely why the recent nationwide protests led by Gen Z youth under the "Cockroach Party" banner serve as a direct example of this frustration. It is high time governments opened their eyes and focused on youth — otherwise, they will have to face the youth's anger.
Unemployment in Telangana — Telangana has made remarkable progress in IT, pharma, and real estate. Hyderabad has attracted world-class investment. Yet this development has not spread equally across all districts of the state. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the Government of India, while India's average unemployment rate stood at 3.1 percent in 2025, Telangana's stood at 5 percent. According to the latest reports for May 2026, Telangana's unemployment rate rose to 5.6%, and these figures clearly show that the unemployment problem in Telangana is more severe than the national average. Telangana now ranks as the state with the third-highest unemployment in the country. Key reasons include a skills gap and the need for reform in the education system; meanwhile, government support measures such as skill universities and upgraded ITIs exist only on paper. There is little evidence that they have resulted in stable jobs for youth. Governments that make big announcements about skill development are failing when it comes to actually creating jobs. While self-employment is presented as an alternative, the lack of capital, loans, market access, and technical support means it too remains, for most youth, little more than a myth.
Government jobs alone are not the solution to unemployment. But the government must not shirk its own responsibility either. Filling vacant posts regularly is a constitutional duty of the government. At the same time, private employment opportunities must be expanded on a large scale through industries, manufacturing, MSMEs, agro-based industries, the services sector, and startups. Only balanced industrial development across all districts can ensure that youth find jobs in their own home regions.
Everyone hoped that after Telangana was formed, the budget would allocate more funds toward self-employment opportunities and that large-scale self-employment schemes would be launched. Instead, self-employment opportunities for BCs, SCs, and STs have been severely cut, with sharp reductions made in the budget. Every rupee, it seemed, was being diverted toward irrigation projects, leaving these communities in tears. Even after the Congress government came to power, it introduced an MSME policy and announced large-scale funding under "Rajiv Yuva Vikasam," promising to provide skill development and jobs for youth — promises that, to this day, have not been backed by even a single rupee actually released for Rajiv Yuva Vikasam. It is also to the Congress government's discredit that the MSME policy did not even include reservations for BCs.
The education system also needs to be reformed to align with employment needs. Coordination between universities, industries, and skill-training institutions must improve. Transparent recruitment in the public sector, quality employment in the private sector, and financial support for self-employment — only these three together can offer a long-term solution to the unemployment problem. The Telangana movement was not fought merely to create a new state. It was fought for self-respect, for social justice, and for the future of local youth. If another generation of students and youth who sacrificed their lives for the movement must continue waiting years on end for jobs in the very Telangana they dreamed of, then it must be seen as a betrayal of the movement's aspirations. Today in Telangana, it is the dominant ruling castes who have secured jobs, while unemployment is what remains for the Bahujans who made the sacrifices. That is why, to truly honor the spirit of the Telangana movement, the government's highest priorities must be: rapidly filling vacant posts, strengthening public universities, expanding quality private employment rooted in social justice, and ensuring dignified livelihoods for every young person. Only then will "Jobs" — the movement's slogan — be realized not just in history books, but in the real lives of Telangana's youth.
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