'Who made Haryana number 1 in unemployment': Cong swipe at BJP

New Delhi, May 23 (PTI) The Congress on Thursday alleged that despite repeated promises, the BJP government has "failed" to provide permanent employment opportunities in Haryana and instead, it is promoting temporary contractual jobs through the skill employment corporation.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh posed questions to Prime Minister Narendra Modi ahead of his rally in Haryana's Mahendragarh.

"Outgoing PM. Now that we have his attention, here are today's questions for him in Mahendragarh: Who made Haryana Number 1 in unemployment? Why has BJP slowed down private investment in Haryana? Why are Bhiwani residents being forced to protest for clean drinking water and proper sewerage?" Ramesh said in a post on X.

Ramesh, citing the latest data from the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE), said Haryana has the highest unemployment rate in India at 37.4 per cent, far surpassing the national average.

"Despite repeated promises and announcements, the BJP government has failed to provide permanent employment opportunities. Instead, they are promoting temporary contractual jobs through the Skill Employment Corporation," he said.

This neglect has left about two lakh government posts vacant, and the recent decision to shut down Hisar Doordarshan has further exacerbated the unemployment crisis, leaving dozens jobless and wasting valuable infrastructure, Ramesh said.

"The BJP's approach, characterised by hollow assurances and a lack of concrete action, has consistently failed the youth. Did the outgoing PM and the BJP ever plan to create better opportunities for Haryana's youth?" he said.

Ramesh further said that having received just one per cent of all bank-assisted private projects in India in 2022-23, Haryana ranks in the bottom five states on this metric.

"Bank-assisted projects are an important indicator of the health of the banking sector as well as private investment. According to experts, a poor law and order situation is one of the key factors deterring companies from investing in Haryana," he said.

After ten years in the state, why has the BJP failed to attract investment and job opportunities to Haryana, he asked.

"Why has the outgoing PM and his Double Anyay Sarkar failed to address the poor law and order situation?" Ramesh said.

He also said the residents of Bhiwani have been struggling with problems of water scarcity, contaminated water supply, and sewerage leaks.

There have been a number of protests in the last month against water contamination and the blockages in the sewer system, he said.

Many streets have been filled with dirty water because of sewage leakages and water scarcity is only getting worse as the summer approaches, the Congress leader said.

The situation on the ground has gotten so bad that residents of the Krishna Colony have even threatened to boycott the Lok Sabha elections if their problems are not resolved, Ramesh said.

"Why are the people of Bhiwani struggling for basic necessities even after 10 years of BJP rule? Can the outgoing PM tell us why, even after months of protests, the BJP has been unable to resolve these issues?" he said and asked the prime minister to break his "silence" on the issue. PTI