Neelam Azad is in prison, and is likely to stay there for a long time. On December 13, 2023, the 30-something, a graduate whose farming parents made great sacrifices for her education, broke into the Indian Parliament with five accomplices, lighting reddish-yellow smoke bombs during a session of the lower house, on the day of the commemoration of the 22nd anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attack on Parliament, which killed 14 people.
"I'm a normal person, a student and jobless," she called out as she was arrested. Her outburst was intended to highlight the scourge of youth unemployment that has plagued the country since Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power in 2014. For months, she had been unable to find a job despite her qualifications. Azad hails from Haryana, an agricultural region between New Delhi and Punjab, known for having the highest unemployment rate in India.
Four months had passed, and in her neighborhood of Jind, crushed by the late April heat, the atmosphere was heavy with frustration and anger as India began to vote in the general elections, which run until June 1. The issue of mass unemployment among young people and women, whose participation rate in the workforce is only 30%, is likely to weigh heavily on the public's evaluation of Modi, the incumbent prime minister who is seeking a third consecutive term. Especially since, when he came to power, the Hindu nationalist promised to create 20 million jobs a year.
In Haryana, traditional agriculture is no longer enough to feed families, and industries are lacking to offer opportunities to youth yearning for skilled jobs. "It was desperation that drove Neelam Azad to take action. She highlighted the suffering of young people and the indifference of the government, which continues to cut public sector jobs. Even teachers are no longer being replaced, and one school after another is closing down," deplored Azad Palwa, the 52 leader of a group of farmers who have been on strike outside Uchana town hall for the past 17 months. They are demanding guaranteed minimum prices for their crops and debt relief: "Unemployment is a tragedy. 1.45 million young people in Haryana have applied for a few thousand police jobs in 2023. Here, the only jobs available in the private sector are in agribusiness, but young people aren't trained for these positions."
The union leader invited us to visit the library in this rural town to grasp the scale of the problem. Nestled at the back of a garden, two large study rooms equipped with dozens of cubicle desks welcome around 50 young people, boys and girls separated, who come almost every day to study and prepare for the civil service entrance examinations.
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