In 2025, over 1 crore applicants applied for just 32,438 Group D posts in Indian Railways — a job with a starting salary of around ₹18,000. Among the applicants were graduates, postgraduates, engineers, and even PhD holders. Nearly 47 lakh were from the OBC category, 28 lakh from SC, and 5.3 lakh from EWS, highlighting that for millions of economically and socially disadvantaged youth, a government job is still the last hope.