Skip to main content

Joblessness, saffronisation, corporatisation of education: BJP 'squarely responsible'

Counterview Desk 
In an open appeal to youth and students across India, several student and youth organizations from across India have said that the ruling party is squarely accountable for the issues concerning the students and the youth, including expensive education and extensive joblessness.
In a resolution adopted at an online meeting, they said, there has been decline in the education budget, shutdown of scholarship schemes, increase in fees in government colleges and universities, saffronization of education, and replacement of scientific and historical facts with propaganda.
It noted “failure” of the Modi government to fulfil its promise of creating two crore jobs, with government jobs being privatized and casualized, and unemployment rates reaching their highest levels in decades.
Accusing the ruling party of prioritizing the interests of big corporates over those of the common people, it said, the ruling party is selling national assets and natural resources at bargain prices and engaging in corruption and money laundering through electoral bonds.
It called upon youth and students “to recognize their historic responsibility and punish and defeat the BJP in the upcoming parliamentary elections and secure the future of India.”

Text:

We write to you at a time when our country, especially our millions of youth are facing an unprecedented crisis. A crisis that is the culmination of a decade-long misrule and loot of the BJP at the Centre and a century of RSS’s existence. This is a fervent appeal to all of you to punish and defeat the BJP, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, which is essential in order to safeguard the future of our youth and democracy.
As we have all been witnessing, the youth of India is today beset with expensive education and extensive joblessness, while the ruling powers are misguiding large sections of youth to spread hate and violence, in order to pursue their corrupt and communal agendas.
Education budget has seen a continuous decline over the years. Scholarship schemes have been shut down arbitrarily. There has been a sharp increase in fees in government colleges and universities. The ruling party has intensified its attack against universities and educational institutions. Scien- tific and historical facts are being replaced with propaganda and falsehood. The ‘New Education Policy’ is being pushed to only further privatization and saffronization! While actual universities are being compromised, the ‘Whatsapp University’ has become a den of misinformation!
Unemployment has become a national calamity. Modi Government, which came to power with the promise of ‘two crore jobs’, has betrayed the youth. Government jobs are being privatized and casualized. Regular employment is shrinking, while wages remain stagnant. Unpaid labour is on a rise. In 2019, the unemployment rate reached its highest level in 45 years! Among the unemployed workforce, 83% are youth, of which 65% are graduate youths. The youth unemployment in India stands at over 40%, while more than 30 lakh sanctioned government posts are lying vacant. Paper leaks in government exams has become a norm. Through the ‘Agnipath’ scheme, the government has compromised national security and the future of the youth. With rural livelihoods being destroyed and very little new opportunities, youth are being pushed towards poverty and suffering.
Youth who protest for their genuine demands and in defense of the Constitution are violently repressed and implicated in false cases, under draconian laws and denied bail. Most mainstream media suppresses any meaningful discussion on the issues of students and youth. Between 2019-22, more than 48,000 students died by suicide. Many are forced to seek unemployment in war zones in desperation.
Meanwhile, there has been an unprecedented assault on our democracy and the Constitution. 
There is widespread clampdown on any kind of questioning, protest or dissent by youth, people’s organizations and opposition parties
Fundamental rights are being trampled. There is a widespread clampdown on any kind of questioning, protest or dissent by youth, people’s organizations and even opposition parties! Festivals and faith are being politicized and weaponized. Economic inequality is at its peak, deepening social injustice.
The ruling party is running the country solely for the profits of a handful of big corporates. It is giving them lakhs of crores of loan waivers and tax cuts, and selling them national assets and natural resources at bargain prices by endangering our environment and grassroots communities. The public is being misled by spending crores of tax-payers money on publicity.
The revelations of electoral bonds has brought to light the largest corruption, money laundering, and extortion racket in the nation’s history. To further cover up this nexus of the BJP and the cor- porates, it continuously engages in communal propaganda and spreads hatred against minorities. But the truth is that it does not even care about the majority people of this country.
With Lok Sabha elections just weeks away, and afraid of losing its power, the BJP government is abusing all its state powers to ensure that the political opposition is crippled before the elections and there is an “Opposition Mukt Election“.
As youth, we recognize the historic responsibility bestowed upon us, towards our nation and its great freedom fighters.
  • We resolve to not let go in vain the struggles of the martyrs of the freedom movement, the farmers movement and the youth movement. We owe a safer nation to all those incarcerated for speaking truth to power!
  • We reject the anti-people, anti-student and anti-youth policies of the BJP.
  • We reject the politics of hate and divisiveness being thrust upon the youth of the nation!
  • We reaffirm our commitment to a Sovereign Secular Socialist Democratic Republic.
  • We pledge to secure justice, liberty and equality for all our citizens, and to preserve our right to protest, and freedom from persecution and unjust repression.
  • We, the youth of India, pledge to punish and defeat the BJP, in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
---
Click here for organisations which endorsed the resolution

Comments

Post a Comment

TRENDING

Gujarat Information Commission issues warning against misinterpretation of RTI orders

By A Representative   The Gujarat Information Commission (GIC) has issued a press note clarifying that its orders limiting the number of Right to Information (RTI) applications for certain individuals apply only to those specific applicants. The GIC has warned that it will take disciplinary action against any public officials who misinterpret these orders to deny information to other citizens. The press note, signed by GIC Secretary Jaideep Dwivedi, states that the Right to Information Act, 2005, is a powerful tool for promoting transparency and accountability in public administration. However, the commission has observed that some applicants are misusing the act by filing an excessive number of applications, which disproportionately consumes the time and resources of Public Information Officers (PIOs), First Appellate Authorities (FAAs), and the commission itself. This misuse can cause delays for genuine applicants seeking justice. In response to this issue, and in acc...
2 comments
»

Targeted eviction of Bengali-speaking Muslims across Assam districts alleged

By A Representative   A delegation led by prominent academic and civil rights leader Sandeep Pandey  visited three districts in Assam—Goalpara, Dhubri, and Lakhimpur—between 2 and 4 September 2025 to meet families affected by recent demolitions and evictions. The delegation reported widespread displacement of Bengali-speaking Muslim communities, many of whom possess valid citizenship documents including Aadhaar, voter ID, ration cards, PAN cards, and NRC certification. 
Post a Comment
»

'Govts must walk the talk on gender equality, right to health, human rights to deliver SDGs by 2030'

By A Representative  With just 64 months left to deliver on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), global health and rights advocates have called upon governments to honour their commitments on gender equality and the human right to health. Speaking ahead of the 80th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), experts warned that rising anti-rights and anti-gender pushes are threatening hard-won progress on SDG-3 (health and wellbeing) and SDG-5 (gender equality).
Post a Comment
»

A comrade in culture and controversy: Yao Wenyuan’s revolutionary legacy

By Harsh Thakor*  This year marks two important anniversaries in Chinese revolutionary history—the 20th death anniversary of Yao Wenyuan, and the 50th anniversary of his seminal essay "On the Social Basis of the Lin Biao Anti-Party Clique". These milestones invite reflection on the man whose pen ignited the first sparks of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution and whose sharp ideological interventions left an indelible imprint on the political and cultural landscape of socialist China.
Post a Comment
»

Is U.S. fast losing its financial and technological edge under Trump’s second tenure?

By Dr. Manoj Kumar Mishra*  The United States, along with its Western European allies, once promoted globalization as a democratic force that would deliver shared prosperity and balanced growth. That promise has unraveled. Globalization, instead of building an even world, has produced one defined by inequality, asymmetry of power, and new vulnerabilities. For decades, Washington successfully turned this system to its advantage. Today, however, under Trump’s second administration, America is attempting to exploit the weaknesses of others without acknowledging how exposed it has become itself.
Post a Comment
»

Gandhiji quoted as saying his anti-untouchability view has little space for inter-dining with "lower" castes

By A Representative A senior activist close to Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA) leader Medha Patkar has defended top Booker prize winning novelist Arundhati Roy’s controversial utterance on Gandhiji that “his doctrine of nonviolence was based on an acceptance of the most brutal social hierarchy the world has ever known, the caste system.” Surprised at the police seeking video footage and transcript of Roy’s Mahatma Ayyankali memorial lecture at the Kerala University on July 17, Nandini K Oza in a recent blog quotes from available sources to “prove” that Gandhiji indeed believed in “removal of untouchability within the caste system.”
Post a Comment
»

'MGNREGA crisis deepening': NSM demands fair wages and end to digital exclusions

By A Representative   The NREGA Sangharsh Morcha (NSM), a coalition of independent unions of MGNREGA workers, has warned that the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) is facing a “severe crisis” due to persistent neglect and restrictive measures imposed by the Union Government.
Post a Comment
»

On Teachers’ Day, remembering Mother Teresa as the teacher of compassion

By Fr. Cedric Prakash SJ   It is Teachers’ Day once again! Significantly, the day also marks the Feast of St. Teresa of Calcutta (still lovingly called Mother Teresa). In 2012, the United Nations, as a fitting tribute to her, declared this day the International Day of Charity. A day pregnant with meaning—one that we must celebrate as meaningfully as possible.
Post a Comment
»

Gujarat minority rights group seeks suspension of Botad police officials for brutal assault on minor

By A Representative   A human rights group, the Minority Coordination Committee (MCC) Gujarat,  has written to the Director General of Police (DGP), Gandhinagar, demanding the immediate suspension and criminal action against police personnel of Botad police station for allegedly brutally assaulting a minor boy from the Muslim community.
Post a Comment
»