“Beta, ladka kya karta hai?”
That one question has decided rishtas across Indian living rooms for decades. And while India may now be the land of unicorn startups, dollar salaries, and LinkedIn flexes, the marriage market remains stubbornly old school. Many fathers (and mothers) still want the same thing they did in the 1980s: a sarkari naukri wala ladka.
Turns out, job security beats startup glamour every single time.
STABILITY SELLS BETTER THAN STOCK OPTIONS(father-in-law filter)
Academic studies back this up. A field experiment conducted by ISI Delhi and the World Bank (2022) found that traditional, “secure” occupations on matrimonial platforms got more traction than riskier, high-earning ones. Teaching, for instance, did better than flashy corporate roles. “Marriage decisions are deeply shaped by perceptions of stability,” the researchers concluded.
In other words, your IIT-founder nephew may be raising Series A funding, but for most parents, the UPSC topper next door is the real prize.
“What will my daughter do with equity and stock options? Can she pay grocery bills with it? A government salary is real money, not paper shares,” said Ramesh Gupta, a banker in Lucknow he further adds”Startups come and go. But an IAS officer? That’s respect for life. People will touch his feet when he enters a room,” joked another father at a Delhi matchmaking event.
MARRIAGE MARKET ECONOMICS 101
Sources familiar with matrimonial platforms say that phrases like “government officer groom wanted” still flood newspaper ads and websites, especially in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns. Even on modern matrimony apps have filters like “IAS/IPS/Defence/PSU” remain amongst the most searched.
“My company just raised Rs. 20 crore. I employ 50 people. But when a rishta comes, the first question is still ‘Sarkari hai kya?’ It’s frustrating,” said a Bengaluru-based entrepreneur.
Economists studying the Indian marriage market note the same: “Government jobs are perceived as the most secure and socially respected form of employment, which increases a groom’s marriage value,” says one study published in the Quarterly Journal of Economics.
COVID WAS THE GREAT REMINDER
The pandemic briefly made startups and corporate jobs look fragile. Layoffs, pay cuts, and shutdowns turned many families back to their old favourite. Government doctors, administrators, and police officers, meanwhile, became frontline heroes and marriage-market hot property.
As one Delhi-based matchmaker told this reporter, “Parents saw that a government salary never stops, even in lockdown. That security is priceless.”
India may be producing world-class entrepreneurs and CEOs, but in the rishta bazaar, it’s still the old-school badge of government service that rules hearts (and matrimonial ads).
So if you’re a founder raising millions, don’t be surprised if your prospective father-in-law still asks: “Beta, IAS nahin ban paaye?”
– Ends