Among the 4607 applicants who have applied for the post of sweepers (10 vacancies) and sanitary workers (4 vacancies) in the Tamil Nadu Assembly Secretariat, a good number of them were engineering graduates, MBAs, and degree holders of arts, science, and commerce.

A 23-year-old first class Electrical Engineering graduate from Chennai explained that being unemployed for over four months and hence not being able to afford basic amenities caused him to apply for the sweeper’s job. “I am not getting any job. Though I’m an Engineer, I can be a sweeper also when there is no job. That’s why I applied,” he reportedly said. He added that he applied for the job using his government provided laptop, stating he could neither afford a smartphone nor did he have enough money to recharge his old basic phone.

There are no prerequisites for the jobs as such, although the potential candidates are required to be able-bodied. The process of selection will apparently be completed only after the Lok Sabha elections.