‘Killing unemployment’: Bihar students gather to study for govt jobs | In pics

In December 2021, the unemployment rate touched a grim 16 per cent mark in Bihar as per CMIE data. It came down to 13.3 per cent in January, but again rose to 14 percent in Feb 2022.

Thousands of students were seen with pen, paper and books in the early hours of Saturday, some sitting and some standing, on the bank of a Ghat near Patna University in Bihar in images shared by news agency ANI on Twitter.

Government job aspirants studying at the bank of a Ghat near Patna University in Bihar. (ANI)

SK Jha, an engineer by degree, has been teaching thousands of government job aspirants and helping them prepare for the entrance exams of jobs in Railways and Short Service Commission (SSC) for free. "We organise tests on Saturdays and Sundays at 6 am. Around 12,000-14,000 students come every weekend. I've been doing this free of cost for the past 2 months," Jha told ANI.

The unemployment rate in India for the month of March stood at 7.60 per cent. However, the unemployment rate for the same period in Bihar was at 14.4 per cent, nearly double than the national average. In December 2021, the unemployment rate touched a grim 16 per cent mark in Bihar. It came down to 13.3 per cent in January, but again rose to 14 percent in Feb 2022.

India’s unemployment rate reached a six-month high of 8.10% in February as compared to 6.57% and 7.91% in January and December, respectively, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).