Through the Lens: India demolishes slums and youth race for government jobs 

A bulldozer tears away at a slum in New Delhi on June 16 as authorities in India’s capital took action in neighborhoods they described as illegally encroaching on government land. The takedowns in the Ashok Vihar and Wazirpur neighborhoods were part of a larger drive to redevelop slums across Delhi, authorities said. The slums’ dwellers included day laborers and vegetable vendors, some of whom did not qualify to be moved to apartments, rendering them homeless, local news outlets reported. (Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times/Getty Images)

People watch as a bulldozer knocks down homes in a slum that New Delhi officials say was illegally encroaching on government land on June 16. It was part of the third major demolition drive in the nation’s capital this month. Heavy security accompanied the workers who razed at least 500 homes in a few clusters of slums in the Ashok Vihar and Wazirpur neighborhoods. (Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times/Getty Images)

Officials from the Delhi Development Authority go through the wreckage of what municipal officials described as illegal dwellings near railway tracks in the capital’s Wazirpur neighborhood on June 16. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times/Getty Images)

People mill about as homes in their New Delhi neighborhood are demolished. (Photo by Sonu Mehta/Hindustan Times/Getty Images)

A Vande Bharat Express train passes through New Delhi’s Wazirpur as municipal workers demolish illegal houses on June 16. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times/Getty Images)

Residents of homes that no longer exist stand next to their belongings in a New Delhi neighborhood that was bulldozed on June 16. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times/Getty Images)

This view shows the demolition of dwellings near railway tracks in New Delhi’s Wazirpur neighborhood on June 16. (Photo by Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times/Getty Images)

Yaseen San's family, who did not qualify for resettlement, stand at at the Bhoomiheen slum in New Delhi in 2023. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)

This photo, taken in 2023, shows a family at the Bhoomiheen slum in New Delhi that did not qualify for resettlement. (Photo by Ken Kobayashi)

A young girl tries to salvage valuables from the debris of homes that were knocked down in a New Delhi demolition drive at Bhoomiheen Camp, in the city’s southeast neighborhood of Kalkaji, on June 12. Hundreds were displaced after the Delhi High Court ruled that their homes illegally encroached on city-owned land. While 1,862 economically disadvantaged families were given flats to live in, another 1,200 families without ration cards were ruled ineligible for such assistance. (Photo by Vipin Kumar/Hindustan Times/Getty Images)

Students attend a class at Officers IAS Academy, a cram school that specializes in preparing young people for government exams, in Chennai, India, on May 28. Civil service jobs are prized by many in India as they offer career security. Openings attract millions of applicants. (Photo by Suzu Takahashi)

An Officers IAS Academy student takes notes during a class on May 28. Many hopefuls spend years trying to crack the civil service test, though few pass. Six attempts up to the age of 32 are allowed. (Photo by Suzu Takahashi)

A student at Officers IAS Academy in Chennai listens on May 28. (Photo by Suzu Takahashi)

Israel Jebasingh, director of the Officers IAS Academy cram school, teaches a class in Chennai on May 28. (Photo by Suzu Takahashi)

An Officers IAS Academy student studies in his Chennai dorm room on May 28. (Photo by Suzu Takahashi)

An Officers IAS Academy class is packed on May 28. Clearing the civil service exam opens opportunities to the highest echelons of government, but the bar is high. Aspirants undergo three rounds of screening -- two written tests followed by a personal interview. Questions range from current affairs and history to economics and science. (Photo by Suzu Takahashi)