Lack of jobs makes students queue up for counselling in Telangana

Hyderabad: Students are increasingly straining their nerves over lack of job opportunities in Telangana, where hopes among the youths have risen after the formation of the new state. This is resulting in depression among many students.

A psychological counseling cell of Osmania University, which provides free counselling to students from the campus and also from affiliated colleges, notices a major spurt in students approaching it with complaints of depression. “Every day, more than a dozen students take counseling from us. On some days, more students turn up,” a cell member said.

It is pointed out that when the Telangana state was formed last year, many students were full of hope that they will get jobs more easily. To add to their confidence, Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao had promised issue of a notification promising one lakh jobs for the youths. However, over the past months, not much has materialised, and notifications for only a few jobs have been issued.

Some senior professors, approached for comments by Deccan Chronicle, said that in recent months, there has been a virtual 'anarchy' among students.

There is unrest in the university and a marked rise in the number of illegal boarders in hostels. Cynthia Douglas, a counselllor at Sahayam, said such an atmosphere was bound to impact psyche of students and some do break under pressure. In fact, cases at Sahayam in 2014-15, after bifurcation, were double the number of those registered before bifurcation in 2013-14. “Many students have no idea what they are going to do after their studies or how they would get jobs”.

“OU has many students doing PG for second or even a fifth time in a row. There are some cases wherein students aged 30 or above come to Sahayam and express their worries over not getting married yet due to lack of a job,” she said.