Modi Rozgar Mela: Problem ‘will not go away in just 100 days’, opposition slams  

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during the launch of Rozgar Mela on Saturday, said the government is working towards softening the blow of the economic problems faced by several countries across the world in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic. He, however, said that the problems will not be over in just 100 days, leading to criticism by opposition leaders with Congress on the front. The Congress termed the event “eventbazi”. However, Modi said his government has been “working on different fronts to create maximum possible job opportunities,” as he distributed 75,000 appointment letters to government job aspirants from across the country.

Context

Not only the opposition parties and civil rights organizations, BJP’s political mentor RSS too have raised concerns over the Modi government’s failures on the employment front, pushing the government in the defensive. With the pandemic pushing the unemployment rate to an all-time high, the government has asked different departments and ministries to recruit 10 lakh in one and half years’ time on a “mission mode” basis. However, of late, there is marginal improvement on this front. Data shared by organizations monitoring India’s economy have shown positive development as the rate of national unemployment has seen a major decline.

New Eventbazi: Congress

Congress general secretary Randeep Surjewala said Modi had promised to provide two crore jobs every year, but did little in the last eight years. Rather he destroyed the small manufacturers and businesses. He urged the government to at least “admit” that unemployment is the biggest problem the country faces. “At least, the ‘jumla king’ was forced to admit that unemployment is the biggest problem the country and the youth face,” he said in a tweet in Hindi. “No Eventbaazi, provide employment,” he said. “By when would these 16 crore jobs be provided and by when would 30 lakh vacancies in government departments be filled up. The Prime Minister would have to answer the youth of the country,” he said in a video put out on Twitter.

PM holds Covid responsible for the problem

PM Modi said that problems following the coronavirus-induced lockdown have not only impacted India but several nations across the world and its impact “will not go away in just 100 days.” He said efforts were on to save India from being “impacted by these issues,” while saying that “several big economies are struggling to bail out from the problems COVID has come up with.”

Past Promises  

PM Modi in June had asked for recruitment on a “mission mode” basis, but little move in that direction was seen on ground. He asked different ministries and government departments to recruit 10 lac aspirants by the end of the year 2023. India’s national unemployment rate reduced to 6.43% in August as per the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

‘75,000 appointment letters to aspirants’

Appointment letters were sent to the aspirants electronically who had qualified procedures to get government jobs in the country, as per media reports. The recruitment processes were carried out by different ministries and autonomous bodies in the country including; Union Public Service Commission (UPSC), Staff Selection Commission (SSC), Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), and others. The new recruits will join nearly 38 different ministries/departments of the Government of India.

‘COVID shrank India’s GDP, snatch jobs’

Ministry of Statistics and Program Implementation data in June last year, amid the COVID-19 pandemic, showed that India’s economy witnessed the worst decline since 1996, the year the ministry started the compilation of GDP figures. Millions of jobs were lost in the two waves of COVID-19 in India since March 2020 which also resulted in a steep drop in consumption.

(With inputs from agencies)