Saurabh Mukherjee
Addressing his first Lok Sabha election rally in Tamil Nadu, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi promised of filling 30 lakh vacant government jobs and assured a legislation to provide apprenticeship to youth.
Narendra Modi’s tenure as the Prime Minister of India, has witnessed an unprecedented stagnation of employment in India, with notebly youth comprising 80 per cent of India's total unemployment.
The figures provided by the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE), a non-official organisation, for October 2023 show that the unemployment rate in the country stood at 10.05 per cent; the rural unemployment rate was 10.82 per cent while the urban unemployment rate was 8.44 per cent.
The overall unemployment rate was not only higher than in the previous month when it was 7.09 per cent, but was the highest since May 2021 when there had been a sharp spike.
According to the CMIE chief, India’s work-force has remained virtually stagnant at a little over 400 million over the last five years, which means that employment has not increased at all.
In Tamil Nadu, Rahul said if the INDIA Bloc is voted to power at the Centre, 'drastic action' will be taken to provide employment opportunities to the young people.
Congress party's 2024 LS polls manifesto which was released on April 5, had stressed on employment for youth. Under youth justice, one of the Five Nyay, documented in the manifesto, the Right to Apprenticeship promises every youth who is a post-secondary pass-out, an annual stipend of Rs 1 lakh. Going forward this is the hope for millions of Indians from unprivileged and marginalised backgrounds.
Many pundits are lauding the promise of filling 30 lakh central vacancies in the government sector, which they believe will have a dual benefit. It will provide regular government jobs with social security to many citizens; additionally will boost the flailing public sector in the country. India has an ever shrinking public or civil service sector. Modi government’s PSU bail out policy and handing those to private players has made the sector, weakest in Indian history. New manpower inductees might just rejuvenate and inspire the sector for a fresh beginning.
By calling off the Agnipath scheme in their manifesto, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, have clearly made their intensions clear that they are not willing trudge the path of BJP’s optic politics in matters of serious business, something as important as unemployment.
The manifesto also flashes a light on paper leaks in exams and calls for holding the state governments accountable through appropriate legislation.
With two other potential job creating promises in the Congress manifesto, one a renewed focus on MSMEs and supporting them and secondly total restructuring of the Performance Linked Incentive Scheme, Rahul Gandhi’s Congress has given an implementable blue print to confront the growing unemployment crisis.
Whether the Congress makes it or not on the electoral front is a completely different proposition, but the party has certainly given a sketch template by which India’s unemployment wounds could be healed.
Narendra Modi’s tenure as the Prime Minister of India, has witnessed an unprecedented stagnation of employment in India, with notebly youth comprising 80 per cent of India's total unemployment.
The figures provided by the Centre for Monitoring the Indian Economy (CMIE), a non-official organisation, for October 2023 show that the unemployment rate in the country stood at 10.05 per cent; the rural unemployment rate was 10.82 per cent while the urban unemployment rate was 8.44 per cent.
The overall unemployment rate was not only higher than in the previous month when it was 7.09 per cent, but was the highest since May 2021 when there had been a sharp spike.
According to the CMIE chief, India’s work-force has remained virtually stagnant at a little over 400 million over the last five years, which means that employment has not increased at all.
In Tamil Nadu, Rahul said if the INDIA Bloc is voted to power at the Centre, 'drastic action' will be taken to provide employment opportunities to the young people.
Congress party's 2024 LS polls manifesto which was released on April 5, had stressed on employment for youth. Under youth justice, one of the Five Nyay, documented in the manifesto, the Right to Apprenticeship promises every youth who is a post-secondary pass-out, an annual stipend of Rs 1 lakh. Going forward this is the hope for millions of Indians from unprivileged and marginalised backgrounds.
Many pundits are lauding the promise of filling 30 lakh central vacancies in the government sector, which they believe will have a dual benefit. It will provide regular government jobs with social security to many citizens; additionally will boost the flailing public sector in the country. India has an ever shrinking public or civil service sector. Modi government’s PSU bail out policy and handing those to private players has made the sector, weakest in Indian history. New manpower inductees might just rejuvenate and inspire the sector for a fresh beginning.
By calling off the Agnipath scheme in their manifesto, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress, have clearly made their intensions clear that they are not willing trudge the path of BJP’s optic politics in matters of serious business, something as important as unemployment.
The manifesto also flashes a light on paper leaks in exams and calls for holding the state governments accountable through appropriate legislation.
With two other potential job creating promises in the Congress manifesto, one a renewed focus on MSMEs and supporting them and secondly total restructuring of the Performance Linked Incentive Scheme, Rahul Gandhi’s Congress has given an implementable blue print to confront the growing unemployment crisis.
Whether the Congress makes it or not on the electoral front is a completely different proposition, but the party has certainly given a sketch template by which India’s unemployment wounds could be healed.
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