Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge launched a scathing attack on the Modi government on Tuesday, alleging that its sole mission is to "keep the youth jobless." Kharge's remarks come amidst rising concerns over unemployment in the country.
In a lengthy post on X, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge questioned the Modi government's dismissal of independent economic reports like Citigroup's on unemployment. Kharge challenged how the government could deny its own data while citing various reports.
"The truth is that Modi government is solely responsible for shattering the dreams of crores of youth in the last 10 years," he alleged. Kharge stated that the latest government data undermines the Modi administration's claims. Citing the National Sample Survey Office's (NSSO) Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises, he highlighted that 5.4 million jobs were lost in the manufacturing sector's unincorporated units between 2015 and 2023.
"In 2010-11, 10.8 crore employees were employed in unincorporated, non-agricultural enterprises across India, which has become 10.96 crore in 2022-23 - that is, a marginal increase of only 16 lakh in 12 years," he said.Kharge cited the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), to state that the urban unemployment rate is at 6.7 per cent (Q4, FY24).
The Congress, which has been critical of the government over unemployment, on Sunday cited a Citigroup report to allege that the Modi administration had exacerbated India's "unemployment crisis." They claimed this was due to the destruction of job-creating MSMEs through "Tughlakian demonetisation," a hastily implemented GST, and rising imports from China.