The obsession with government jobs needs to stop.

This will be a bit of a rant, so please bear with me. I'm (27M) doing my PhD from an IIT. A few days back, I got a call from one of our neighbors back home who had never called me before. All he wanted to do was show off that his son (who is my age) is now a constable under the Assam government. I almost lost it when he sarcastically said at the end of the call, "Toiu jate joldi sakori ata pao ru," to show his pity. Mind you, I'm getting 43k pm as fellowship, which is probably more than his son's salary (obviously, he can earn more by other means). I hate going back home nowadays because I feel like people would rather see me do any govt job than what I am actually doing. It's great if you get one, but this obsession of our people to impose that it is the be-all and end-all needs to stop. Not only does this deter students from going for other things, but it also significantly decreases productivity in the age group, which is supposed to be the most productive as people spend years just preparing for a job instead of doing something productive. Also, the institutes in our state have absolutely ruined what it means to be doing PhD/research, but that's a topic for another day.