Is it a cricket match or a concert? Stadium becomes examination hall for 30K people in Pakistan

Over 30,000 students gathered at a stadium for police recruitment written test.

Islamabad, Jan 02: A viral video has garnered the attention of netizens where a stadium is packed with people. If you think they have gathered to watch a cricket match or to enjoy a concert, then you are wrong.

The huge crowd is aspiring job seekers who were reportedly part of recruitment process for Islamabad's police force.

In the clip, thousands of people are sitting inside the stadium. Sharing the video on Twitter, Al Jazeera said, "It's not football that's filled this stadium in Pakistan but the hope of finding a job. More than 30,000 people turned up to take a written test for Islamabad's police force, where there are only 1,167 positions available."

Pakistan is reeling under a severe economic crisis and high unemployment. As per a report, over 31 per cent of youths in the cash-strapped country are unemployed. Among the 31 per cent, 51 per cent are females while 16 per cent are males, who have professional degrees. About 60 per cent population is less than 30 years old.

The Pakistan Institute of Development Economics notes that the large part of the working-age group are not part of the labour force and they are either discouraged workers or have other source of income. In spite of government initiatives, the working women rate remains shockingly low.

The previous government led by Imran Khan is blamed for the current poor state of economy which was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Pakistan today is facing multiple challenges that include account deficit, low agricultural productivity and industrial output. The current account deficit has officially reached 5.3 per cent of GDP. Fiscal imbalance is expected to rise to 8.2 per cent of GDP. Cooking oil prices have gone up 130 times after Imran Khan took over as Prime Minister and the cost of fuel went up 45 times to PKR 145 a litre in a year. The Pakistani rupee has also taken a pounding, losing 12 per cent to the dollar since July 2021. Thus, to put it mildly, the economy is virtually bankrupt, ANI reported.