India’s colossal labour challenge


Day labourers congregating along train tracks while waiting for work in Patna, India. — ©️2023 The New York Times Company

THE grubby lanes of Musallahpur, in the north Indian city of Patna, heave with the foot traffic, banners and vending carts familiar to commercial hubs across India. Here, though, the cacophony is directed toward a single goal: helping young people land a government job.

Musallahpur is filled with brick-barn classrooms where 20-somethings crowd themselves and their heavy backpacks to train for standardised employment exams.

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