New Delhi, Mar 27 (PTI) The Congress on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi can keep trying to “distort, distract, and divert”, but youth unemployment is a defining issue for the country in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and it has a concrete plan to deal with it.
Former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi attacked the Centre over Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran’s reported remarks that the government cannot solve all social and economic problems, saying that only yesterday he had asked if Prime Minister Narendra Modi had any scheme for employment and the government’s reply came today itself.
India Employment Report 2024 is not only a document of the “massive failure” of the Modi government on the employment front but also a seal of approval on the employment policy of the Congress, he said.
According to the report, 83 per cent of the total unemployed people of India are youth, either they do not have a job or they are forced to work in bad conditions at very low wages, Gandhi said.
“Report says 65% educated youth are unemployed – Our guarantee is we will fill 30 lakh government posts. The report says there is a skill gap - we will make freshers a skilled work force through ‘Pehli Naukri Pakki’,” he said.
“New jobs have to be created, says report – Our ‘Youth Light’ guarantee is bringing Rs 5000 crore of support for start-ups,” Gandhi said.
The report says workers do not have social security and secure employment – the Congress is going to change their lives under ‘shramik nyay’, he stated.
The policies of the Congress are the ‘guarantee of employment’, this has also been proved by the government report, Gandhi said.
“BJP means unemployment and helplessness, Congress means employment revolution,” he asserted, adding that the “difference is clear”.
Citing the India Employment Report 2024 released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Institute of Human Development (IHD), Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge urged people to remember before voting that Prime Minister Modi promised to provide 20 crore jobs in 10 years but “snatched more than 12 crore jobs from the youth”.
“Our youth is bearing the brunt of Modi government’s pathetic apathy, as ever-rising unemployment has destroyed their future. ILO & IHD Report conclusively says that the unemployment problem is grim in India,” he said.
“They are conservative, we are sitting on a ‘ticking bomb’ of joblessness!” Kharge said in a post on X.
“But the Modi government’s Chief Economic Advisor protects the dear leader, by saying ‘government can’t solve all social, economic problems such as unemployment’,” he said.
Kharge said the ILO report states that 83 per cent of the jobless Indians are youths and only 17.5 per cent of the youth in rural areas are engaged in regular work.
“Share of people employed in industry and manufacturing has remained the same since 2012 at 26% of the total workforce. The percentage of youth involved in economic activities decreased from 42% in 2012 to 37% by 2022,” he said, citing the report.
Therefore, compared to the Congress-led UPA government, fewer young people are involved in economic activities under the Modi dispensation due to an acute scarcity of jobs, Kharge said.
Compared to 2012, youth unemployment has tripled under the Modi government, he claimed.
“That is why the Congress has brought in ‘Yuva Nyay’,” he said.
Kharge listed the guarantees of the Congress under ‘Yuva Nyay’, such as filling up nearly 30 lakh vacant central government posts.
He also highlighted the right to apprenticeship law for degree and diploma holders, which will guarantee them apprenticeship with an assistance of Rs 1 lakh per year.
“The Congress Party guarantees that we will put a full stop on paper leaks by bringing a new law and will also bring a new law for social security and working conditions in gig economy,” he said.
“A Fund will be created with an amount of Rs 5,000 Cr which will be distributed in all the districts of the country. Each district will get 10 Cr from the fund,” he added.
“Before you vote, do remember…! Modi ji promised 20 Crore Jobs in 10 Years, but snatched more than 12 crore jobs from the youth!” the Congress chief said.
In a statement, Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said the India Employment Report 2024 presents “some extremely concerning” facts on the country’s labour market over the last 10 years of ‘anyay kaal’.
Citing the report, he said there has been a “failure” to create sufficient employment.
“Each year, around 70-80 lakh youths are added to the labour force, but between 2012 and 2019, there was almost zero growth in employment – just 0.01%! In 2022, unemployment was very high among the urban youth (17.2%) as well as rural youth (10.6%),” he said.
The female unemployment rate in urban areas was extremely high at 21.6 per cent, Ramesh said.
“This report finds that the Modi government increased the percentage of low-paying informal-sector employment without social security, while formal employment decreased from 10.5% to 9.7% from 2019-22,” the Congress leader said on X.
The PM can keep trying to distort, distract and divert, but youth unemployment is the defining issue for the country in the 2024 elections. The Congress party has presented a concrete plan of action on unemployment, he said.
“The days of Pakoda-nomics will soon be over,” he said in his statement. PTI ASK KSS KSS
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