January 12, 2024
NEW DELHI – In a fresh attack on the BJP-led government at the Centre over unemployment, the Congress said on Thursday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has “failed” to fulfill his promise of creating two crore jobs every year.
The party claimed that the country has been witnessing “jobs famine” under the BJP government. “India’s jobs famine continues to worsen, thanks to the 10 years of the Modi Government,” Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh wrote in a social media post alongside a report titled “Spike in joblessness among youth”.
Citing the data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), Ramesh, who is also the Congress’ Rajya Sabha MP, said in December 2023, unemployment among the youths in the 25-29 age group was at 15.5 per cent, the highest in four years.
Pointing out that unemployment at present is worse than it was during the Covid-19 pandemic, the parliamentarian further said, “For youth aged 20-24, the unemployment rate hit a peak of 45.5 per cent. Even for those between the ages of 30 and 34, the unemployment rate is at a three-year high. The crisis is particularly bad in rural areas, and more and more families are turning to MGNREGA as there are no other jobs available.”
He said, “It is evident that the prime minister has failed most miserably to fulfill his promise of creating two crore jobs per year. India’s youth deserve growth that delivers them quality jobs, not joblessness and pakora shops.”
Notably, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, during his ‘Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra’ scheduled to kick off from Manipur’s Imphal on January 14, is expected to raise the issue of “unemployment’’. He has been constantly accusing the BJP government of failure to address the unemployment issue.