Political slugfest erupts over 'leaked' job data

New Delhi: The country’s unemployment rate hit a 45-year high of 6.1 per cent in 2017-18, the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) periodic labour report, which has not been released but was leaked to a newspaper on the eve of the Narendra Modi government’s final, interim Budget, claimed, setting off a political slugfest.

On Thursday, soon after the damaging report on job creation under the Modi government appeared — the first survey since demonetisation was accounced in Novermner 2016 — the government fielded Niti Aayog top officials to debunk it as a “draft not yet finalised” and to counter the Opposition’s attacks.

While the Congress called the Centre’s job creation record a “national disaster”, former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti picked up Mr Modi’s “vanakkam” remark in Pondicherry and tweeted, “Chaliye berozgari ko vanakkam. On a serious note, this is quite worrying.”

During the bitter duel on Twitter, Congress president Rahul Gandhi threw the “fuhrer” barb at Prime Minister Modi, while the BJP likened the Congress president to Mussolini, saying he has a myopic understanding of issues, just like the Italian dictator.

The NSSO findings reportedly said that unemployment was last this high in 1972-73. The unemployment rate was 2.2 per cent in 2011-12. The leaked report further said that unemployment was higher in urban areas (7.8 per cent) as compared to 5.3 per cent in rural areas.

The fresh controversy, a day before the Budget, and in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections has given the Congress an opportunity to target the government.

Comparing the Prime Minister with Hitler, Mr Gandhi tweeted: “NoMo Jobs! The fuhrer promised us 2 cr jobs a year. 5 years later, his leaked job creation report card reveals a national disaster. Unemployment is at its highest in 45 yrs. 6.5 cr youth are jobless in 2017-18 alone. Time for NoMo2Go”.

The BJP tweeted back saying that Mr Gandhi had inherited Mussolini’s short-sightedness. “It’s clear that he has inherited Mussolini’s short-sightedness and has myopic understanding of issues. EPFO’s real data shows sharp increase in jobs, created in just the last 15 months. Only a man who hasn’t ever held a proper job and is totally jobless can peddle such #FakeNews!” Earlier, Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar, who had previously mounted a defence of lowering of UPA-era GDP growth rates, at a hurriedly-called press conference, said the NSSO’s periodic labour force survey (PLFS) report cited by a newspaper “is not finalised. It is a draft report”.

Refusing to comment on the content of the news report, he said that the government will release its employment report by March after collating quarter-on-quarter data.

He also debunked claims of jobless growth, saying how can a country grow at an average of 7 per cent without generating employment.

Mr Kumar also said it was incorrect to compare the PLFS data with earlier reports of the NSSO as their methodologies are different.

Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant, who too was present at the conference, said India is creating adequate number of jobs for new entrants, but “probably we are not creating high quality jobs”.

Mr Kant said that Niti Aayog’s estimate shows that the country is creating 7-7.8 million jobs every year and the nature of jobs is also changing.

Citing a report by the McKinsey Global Institute, Mr Kant said a combination of increased government spending, additional IT hiring, and increase in entrepreneurship created gainful employment for 20-26 million people between 2014 and 2017.

The Niti Aayog CEO also said that according to a study based on data collected by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) and the Tractor and Mechanization Association (TMA), over 14 million jobs have been created in the transport sector between 2014-2018.

Earlier, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) had stated that 1.5 million jobs were lost just in the first four months of 2017 — immediately after demonetisation of old 500 and 1000 rupee notes.

The NSSO job report was previously planned to be released in December 2018. Two members — including the acting chairman — of the National Statistical Commission resigned this week, saying the government had not released the job numbers despite the commission’s approval.

Congress chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala joined his party chief in slamming the government over the allegedly high unemployment rate.

Mr Surjewala said India does not want a government that has left the future of the youth in jeopardy.

“Modi ji, unemployment rate is at a 45-year high. This is why the NSSO report was kept under the wraps. This is why members of NSC resigned. Promise of 2 crore jobs turned out to be a cruel joke. India does not want a Government that has left the future of our youth in jeopardy,” he tweeted.

Congress leader Abhishek Singhvi cited the media report on job creation and tweeted, “If figs inconvenient, doctor them; if experts indep, make them lame duck and forced 2resign; if doctoring not possible, change basis of calculation! Vive #bjp #Modi.”