Group I aspirants set up a makeshift shop at Medaram jatara in Mulugu district.
In a poignant display of the challenges faced by the unemployed, four youth, including three B.Tech graduates, have resorted to setting up a stall at Medaram village to cater to the needs of devotees visiting the Sammakka-Saralamma shrine during the ongoing biennial mega jatara (tribal fair).
The youth say they were forced to start this short-term business because of the dearth of government job opportunities, to prepare for which they had burnt the midnight oil.
Gunti Ruthwik, a resident of Pathipaka village of Shyampet mandal near Parkal town and a B.Tech graduate in mechanical engineering from a Hyderabad-based private college, shares his disappointment, “We all prepared rigorously for government jobs by opting for coaching in Hyderabad and appeared for the Group I exam in 2022. Owing to the legal controversies surrounding the recruitment process, however, we have been left without any employment prospect.”
The four invested ₹4 lakh into their business, which offers products and services such as sheep, goat, water, soft drinks and tents. They have also put up a banner stating that they had appeared for the Group I examination and urged the public to help them out. Mr. Ruthwik says they paid substantial amounts in rent, forest department fees and power charges to sustain the stall.
V. Karunakar from Kadavendi village of Devaruppula mandal of Jangaon district, H. Mahender from Amberpet of Hyderabad and D. Naveen, a B.Com graduate from Nagannapally village of Ibrahimpatnam mandal near Hyderabad are the other three members in the group.
The stall was Mr. Ruthwik’s idea. The parents of three members of the group are into business, including construction.
Their plight has not gone unnoticed, with sympathetic visitors patronising their stall over the past 20 days. However, the youth are acutely aware that this short-term venture will only sustain them until the conclusion of the jatara on February 24. The youth are determined to continue preparing for the competitive examinations after they wind up the business.
