IT’S election time, and from the dais of Patna’s large Gandhi Maidan, Bihar expects to soon hear parties repeat their tall promises of jobs. It’s an irony that rings loudest in the ground surrounding the platform.
Every morning, thousands turn up here for “training”, to clear the “physical test” that is an essential component of a range of government job exams. But now, the only open expanse around for miles is officially barred for public use “in view of elections”.
A notice issued by the district administration says all public activities on the ground are barred from October 24 till November 3 for security and administrative reasons, in view of elections. It warns of action in case of “unnecessary” use without permission.
Govt job aspirants train for the ‘physical test’ at Gandhi Maidan in Patna. (Photo: Ankur Yadav/Jansatta)
But even before this official notification, most of the ground was cordoned off for vehicles, about 400 of them, including buses, trucks and mini-buses, for use in elections.
“The administration talks about youth empowerment, but this is what we get!” says Abhinav Singh, founder of Marco Defence, a private institute that “coaches” aspirants for police and Army jobs. “Nearly one lakh candidates are preparing across the state, and 20,000 train at Gandhi Maidan alone daily. Yet, the ground is blocked. It shows the apathy toward these youngsters.”
It’s well before sunrise, a week before the ground was shut for the public, and the air is filled with hundreds of shoes thumping the ground, the sharp whistles of trainers, and the huffing of young men and women, some just out of school, others married and giving what may be their last shot. The immediate goal is the ongoing recruitment for 19,838 police constable posts. Written results are out and the Physical Efficiency Test is due in December.
However, with the six walking tracks and other parts of the ground blocked by vehicles, all the trainees are squeezed into the few patches of clear spaces. To get ahead, one must be ready to be jostled or elbowed.
Cycles parked at the maidan,
Neelesh Kumar, 22, a farmer’s son from Nawada district, which is about 100 km from Patna, says: “We reach here by 4 am, but now we can hardly find enough space to run. We collide into each other and sometimes even get injured. The ground is so packed, it’s hard to do stretching exercises.”
For the women, many of whom are here with husbands, who look after their toddlers as they train, are worried about the slipping time. “I missed the last exam because I was pregnant,” says Neelu Kumari, 23, from Begusarai, who is balancing her eight-month-old on her lap. “I can’t afford to lose this chance. A government job means stability and respect.”
Deepika Kumari, 21, the daughter of a private car driver, says: “I’m the eldest, and no one in my family has ever got a government job… If I make it, it will change everything.”
Another aspirant, Sweety Kumari, wiping the sweat from her brow, has a point to prove too. “In most families, sons are still preferred. My brother studies in Delhi while I struggle to train even in Patna. This mindset hasn’t changed.”
For the women, many of whom are here with husbands, who look after their toddlers as they train, are worried about the slipping time.
Rahul Kumar from Aurangabad talks about the only option he has should he fail the test. “I’ll work as a medical practitioner in my village. People mock them, but they are the real first responders in rural Bihar,” Rahul says, citing the work done by them during Covid.
Akhilesh Kumar Mishra, SHO, Gandhi Maidan, says: “The Maidan has been closed for the general public after the District Administration order. It is being used for election-related activities and no other activity can take place.”
Patna Magistrate Thiyagrajan S M tells The Indian Express the same, adding that so far in this poll season, no political rally has taken place at Gandhi Maidan.
Given the size of the ground, parties brave it only if sure of a full house. Often, those meetings have made history. With five entry gates and watched over by a huge statue of Mahatma Gandhi, the Maidan saw the call go out for the Quit India Movement in 1942 and for ‘Sampoorna Kranti’ by Jayaprakash Narayan in 1974, which eventually toppled the mighty Indira Gandhi government at the Centre.
It were the youth who responded to Narayan’s exhortation of ‘Total Revolution’, and made it a success.
In today’s Gandhi Maidan, revolution is a faint desire, battered by the onslaught of daily struggles.
“Student life is very challenging, especially in Bihar. We have to protest for everything,” says Dayanand Kumar from Madhepura district, who points out that he is 27. “Those of us who are about to cross the age limit for most government jobs are under tremendous pressure from our families. They keep asking, ‘Aur kitna samay loge (How much more time will you take for a job)?’.”
At the minimum, Rahul Kumar says, the government can show some consideration and arrange free physical training. “We are already spending on training, accommodation, and diet, and now the administration does not even allow us to train uninterruptedly.”
But Rajiv Ranjan from Saran doesn’t expect things to change any time soon. “Until and unless infrastructure is improved, we can’t claim Bihar will change. If the right steps are taken today, results will only be seen in the next decade. We all understand this.”
In this gap, between promise and reality, Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj has struck a chord. However, as one youth says, “His party will take time. You can’t form a party and win elections so quickly in Bihar… People still consider caste over everything when they go out to vote.”
Meanwhile, they come here, on bicycles that are lined up by the hundreds on the edge of the ground, tiffins tied to their carriers, shirts drying on their handlebars, a sharp contrast to the election caravan ready to roll off next to them.