The intense competition for government jobs in Bihar is highlighting a wider challenge facing the state’s young workforce. While thousands of candidates compete for a limited number of government positions, a much larger concern is the relatively low participation of young people in the labour market.
The latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data shows that Bihar’s youth unemployment rate stood at 12.1 per cent in 2025. However, the state’s youth labour-force participation rate (LFPR) was only 34.3 per cent among those aged 15-29. This was significantly below the national figure of 46 per cent.
The gap has widened despite an improvement in Bihar’s youth participation over the years. Youth LFPR stood at 24.4 per cent in 2017-18. It rose to 27.6 per cent in 2018-19 before declining to 25.7 per cent in 2020-21. It subsequently climbed to 34.6 per cent in 2023-24 and remained almost unchanged at 34.3 per cent in 2025.
The growing preference for government employment is evident from the scale of competition in recruitment examinations conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC).
In the 67th BPSC Combined Competitive Examination (CCE), around 4.8 lakh candidates competed for 802 positions. The 68th CCE attracted 2.6 lakh candidates for 324 posts, while about 1.9 lakh candidates appeared for the 69th CCE for 475 positions.
Competition remained high even when vacancies increased. The 70th CCE had around 3.3 lakh candidates for 2,035 posts. In the latest 71st CCE, around 3.2 lakh candidates appeared for 1,298 vacancies.
The numbers point to a persistent mismatch between the supply of government jobs and the number of young people seeking them.
For many young people, government employment remains attractive because it offers a relatively predictable career path, job security and stable income. But the low youth LFPR indicates that Bihar’s employment challenge extends beyond those actively preparing for competitive examinations.
A significant share of young people is not participating in the labour market at all. This suggests that expanding employment opportunities in the wider economy, alongside government recruitment, will be critical to bringing more young people into work.
The ongoing protests over BPSC examinations, vacancies and recruitment processes therefore reflect more than dissatisfaction with a single examination cycle. They also point to deeper concerns around access to stable employment and the limited opportunities available to Bihar’s growing young workforce.
