'Paper leaks, stampede for jobs': Mallikarjun Kharge hits out at Modi govt for 'covering up' unemployment data

NEW DELHI: Leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday targeted the Centre for "covering up" data on declining job market and unemployment. Citing data, the Congress president said that over "82% youth are looking for a job this year, 55% said it became difficult to find a job last year."

"False claims, falsification of data and covering up the truth of declining jobs have become a habit of the Modi government," he said in a post on X.


He further listed out some data to press upon his claims.

• 82% youth are looking for a job this year, 55% said it became difficult to find a job last year.
• 37% say they have given up hope of finding a new job in 2025.
• A separate survey revealed that 69% of Indian HR professionals feel that finding qualified talent for a role has become more challenging now.

"Without conducting a census, by estimating and extrapolating old surveys using government data, the Modi government is misleading crores of youth in the name of generating employment. By converting unpaid labour into jobs and counting even one-hour work per week as jobs, it is deceiving the country," he said.

"The Modi Government has duped the youth with lies like paper leaks by the Mafia Raj, stampede for a few jobs, snatching jobs by shutting down MSME through evil policies like demonetisation and wrong GST, usurping the right to reservation, keeping government job posts vacant for years and promising two crore jobs annually," he added.


The Congress has been criticizing the government led over its unemployment record, specifically questioning the Centre's promise to create two crore jobs annually for the country's youth.