BANGALORE: Sumana, a 38-year-old BA graduate, was one among the thousands who came to the Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) office on Thursday to collect an application for the post of a pourakarmika.
It is not because of dearth of jobs in the private sector that Sumana hopes to become a pourakarmika. It is for the job security that comes with the profession.
“Private companies hire people on contract. The chance of losing one’s job is high. I wanted a government job and, if it means sweeping roads and collecting waste from houses, I don’t mind it,” she said. If everything goes well, she hopes to eventually get a promotion and become an officer.
After almost two decades, BBMP issued a notification for recruitment of 4,000 pourakarmikas earlier this year. Raju, another applicant, is 27 years old and works at a private bank. “At the bank, I work as a coordinator on contract basis. My salary is just `6,500 a month. A pourakarmika’s job is after all a government job and a secure one. My life will be settled,” he told Express.
Chandrashekar (26), yet another graduate who stood in line for an application form, supplies medicines to a major city hospital. Commerce graduate Asha (name changed) too was there. The 34-year-old works as a computer operator with the BBMP on contract basis. “It is better to have a secure job of sweeping roads than sitting in front of fancy computers, but with no security,” she said.
Some graduates decided not to apply after being told about the job profile. Shashikumar, a BCom graduate who works as a sales executive with Airtel, had thought it was a First Division Assistant’s job and chose not to apply after learning otherwise.
ALSO READ: