After the central government refused Citigroup’s report on India’s job growth, claiming that the report doesn’t include official data sources available in the public domain, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge attacked the government, listing out government data and highlighting the rising unemployment rates in the country in an X post.

“The truth is that Modi Govt is solely responsible for shattering the dreams of crores of Youth in the last 10 years!” Kharge said, slamming the central government for rejecting independent economic reports because they exposed its “shameless attempt to whitewash.”

Read Also: “Reality Even More Stark”: Congress On Citigroup’s India Jobs Growth Report

Kharge listed out data from NSSO’s Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises (ASUSE), which, he claimed, outlines that in the manufacturing sector, 54 lakh jobs have been lost in the unincorporated units between 2015 and 2023.

The survey states that from 10.8 crore employees in unincorporated, non-agricultural enterprises across India in 2010-11, the number had a “marginal increase” of 16 lakhs in over 12 years (10.96 crore in 2022-23). He stated that the urban unemployment rate is at 6.7% (Q4, FY24) as per the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).

“Modi Govt beats the drum of employment generation in the Formal sector by showing EPFO ​​data, but even if we assume that data to be true, it has seen a 10% decline in new jobs in 2023,” stated Kharge.

Listing out independent economic reports, the Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha highlighted that according to the CMIE, the current unemployment rate in the country has reached 9.2%, and among women, it is a whopping 18.5%.

Kharge stated that, according to the ILO report, 83% of the unemployed in the country are youth. Between 2012 and 2019, nearly seven crore youth joined the labour force, but there was only 0.01% growth in employment, as per the India Employment Report 2024. “According to the 2023 report of Azim Premji University, 42.3% of graduates under the age of 25 in the country are unemployed,” he continued.

Read Also: “Govt’s Role Limited”: What Chief Economic Adviser Said On Unemployment, Social-Economic Issues

Citing the latest report from Citigroup, Kharge claimed that the country needs 1.2 crore jobs annually and that a GDP growth of 7% will not be enough to create jobs for youth. Under the Modi government, he claimed, the country has achieved an average of only 5.8% GDP growth.

“Be it government jobs, or private sector, self-employment or unorganised sector – Modi Govt has only one mission – “Keep the youth JOBLESS,’” Kharge said, criticising the centre.

Modi Govt may be refuting independent economic reports like Citigroup on unemployment, but how will it deny government data!

The truth is that Modi Govt is solely responsible for shattering the dreams of crores of Youth in the last 10 years!

The latest government data… pic.twitter.com/9KatWsJ8VN

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) July 9, 2024

Recently, the PM Modi-led government highlighted that the Citigroup report failed to account for the comprehensive and positive employment data available from official sources such as the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and the Reserve Bank of India’s KLEMS data.

The Citigroup report notes the declining quality of jobs in India, with 46% of the workforce still in agriculture, contributing less than 20% to GDP. It states that manufacturing jobs have decreased, and fewer people are employed in the formal sector compared to pre-Covid levels. The official unemployment rate of 3.2% is considered an underestimation, with the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) reporting a jobless rate of 9.2% in May, the highest in eight months. For those aged 20-24, the unemployment rate exceeds 40%, states the report.