2.4M applicants lined up in India for 368 low-level government jobs

Indian officials are overwhelmed with the 2.3 million people applying an only 368 low-level government jobs, which means too many people are scrambling for little work in India, the third largest economy in Asia.

ABC reports that it would take at least three years to interview all the applicants. The job involves passing files and making tea. These jobs are called "peons." The pay is only 16,000 rupees or $334 a month. The qualifications for the job are to have finished primary school and should be able to ride a bike. There are some 255 people with doctorates and 150,000 graduates who applied for the job.

Newsweek reported that the jobs were offered in the state government of Uttar Pradesh in India. That state has 215 million residents, which is a population higher than Brazil.

Hiring manager Prabyhat Mittal was stunned with the number of candidates. "It is going to be very difficult for us to devise an appropriate entrance exam," he said.

Channel3000 got accounts from the applicants who mostly said that this "peon" employment is better than unemployment.

Alok Chaurasia is one of the applicants who said that the petty job is better than having no job at all. This applicant has a degree in electronics and communication engineering - pretty much more than riding a bike and making tea.

This high demand for small jobs is a bad sign for India's labor market. India gets an average of 1 million new job seekers every month. This also shows that most Indians still find government jobs as the most attractive work to build a career from. Government jobs pay relatively better, has plenty of benefits, and can last for a lifetime.

This scramble for jobs is a big challenge for Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who won a landslide victory last year with a platform to provide jobs and economic growth. Half of the population in India are under the age of 25. For the next 20 years, there will be 300 million additional people in India.