Rubbing salt into wounds of youth by telling 'lies': Kharge on PM's '8 crore new jobs' remark

Ahead of the Union Budget on July 23, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday over his remark that eight crore new jobs have been created.

Kharge accused Modi of "rubbing salt into the wounds" of the youth by "telling one lie after another".

His attack comes after Prime Minister Modi emphasised last week that the creation of eight crore new jobs in the last three to four years has "silenced" those spreading fake narratives about unemployment.

RBI report

Quoting a recent report of the Reserve Bank of India on employment, the prime minister had asserted that the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government prioritised stability and growth, and added that small and big investors welcomed the NDA's third term with enthusiasm.

In a post on 'X', Kharge said, "Narendra Modi ji, By telling one lie after another on jobs, you are rubbing salt into the wounds of the youth!" "That is why we want to ask you three questions regarding the questionable data of the RBI -- Why is it that you promised 20 crore jobs in 10 years, but took away more than 12 crore jobs?

"According to the RBI report, there was an increase of 2.1 crore in employment between 2012 and 2019, but the International Labour Organization (ILO) report says that this increase is only 2 lakh. In fact, the main source of both reports is the government PLFS survey. So what is the truth then," he asked.

Unpaid working women

Is it not true that according to the government PLFS data, the source of the RBI report, 37 per cent of working women are unpaid, Kharge added.

In rural areas, this figure is at a horrifying level of 43 per cent, he said.

Impact of Covid-19

"Is it not true that according to the government's own Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE), the informal manufacturing sector lost 54 lakh jobs in seven years due to the triple impact of demonetisation, flawed GST and Covid-19," the Congress leader asked.

"Even if RBI data is to be believed, it is not a matter of joy that people like factory-workers, teachers, small shopkeepers etc., who had gone to their villages due to the pandemic, are having to work as agricultural labourers. The RBI report shows that there are 2.3 crore such people who did not return to their regular jobs between 2019-20 and 2022-23," Kharge said.

It is not clear how the RBI arrived at its 2023–24 numbers, given that it did not reveal the sector-wise breakup, something it did in previous years, the Congress chief said.

"Modi ji, stop hiding the promise of providing 2 crore jobs per year, by misusing RBI and publishing FAKE reports," he said. 

(With inputs from agencies)