Thousands of Unemployed Write Letter 'in Blood' Seeking Appointments in BJP-Governed Uttar Pradesh

In 2014, the Bharatiya Janata Party took India's political stage by storm with grand promises of over 20 million jobs per year. However, opposition parties and young people have been complaining of an unprecedented level of joblessness in the country.

Thousands of demonstrating young people have written a letter to Uttar Pradesh State Chief Yogi Adityanath demanding an immediate filling of vacancies for 137,500 assistant teachers in schools across the state.

Samajwadi Party leader and former State Chief Akhilesh Yadav has tweeted that the letter was purportedly written with the candidates' blood.

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— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) October 25, 2021

In the letter, the candidates requested that Adityanath fill the vacant posts in the state with eligible teachers.

Since July of this year, these candidates have been protesting at the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) office in Lucknow, alleging partiality in recruitment against them by the state government. They claimed that the government supports upper caste candidates while ignoring candidates from marginalised communities. India has a quota system in government jobs where people from marginalised communities receive a fixed amount of seats. Some female and male candidates have demonstrated their displeasure by climbing a water tank on the campus of the SCERT office.

On 21 October, the agitating candidates were brutally lathi-charged and dispersed by the police. The police have arrested 61 candidates so far and sent them to jail. A total of 84 candidates also wrote a letter to the president and governor mentioning suicidial thoughts citing their joblessness and lack of support from the government.

The BJP came to power in Uttar Pradesh in 2017 with a thumping majority, promising jobs, and better socio-economic development in the state.