The PM’s meeting with economists and analysts assumes significance as it comes just months ahead of four crucial assembly elections end of the year.
New Delhi: In a bid to counter the opposition’s narrative of jobless economic growth ahead of the crucial election season, Prime Minister Narendra Modi is all set to hold a meeting Tuesday with economists and analysts to figure out ways to redeem the jobs data.
The meeting will see a discussion on the employment scenario and recent data on job generation.
“The prime minister will be present in the meeting and will review the situation,” a source familiar with the development said, adding that fresh employment data in the current financial year so far will also be presented.
The meeting assumes importance as Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) gear up for election campaigns in key states such as Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Mizoram this year, besides the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.
The Narendra Modi government had stormed to power in 2014 with the promise of ushering in ‘acche din’ and providing better employment opportunities to the country’s youth.
Jobs data
Over 70 lakh jobs had been created last year in addition to those that were generated in the informal sector, said Modi in an interview recently. He said the problem was not a lack of jobs in the country but inadequate data on the same.
Modi’s claim was based on a January 2018 report by Soumya Kanti Ghosh, chief economic adviser of the State Bank of India group, and Pulak Ghosh, professor at Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, which said the job scenario was not as bad as it was made out to be.
The report, based on payroll data, indicated that 70 lakh jobs were added in the 2016-17 fiscal.
Although the report gave an opportunity to the government to counter-attack the opposition, many economists and analysts questioned the authenticity of the data while underlining the need to create more ‘quality’ jobs.
“Though there are some numbers to show that jobs have been generated, the question remains whether the number is enough. There is no reason for complacence,” said Prasenjit Bose, an independent economist.
Faux pas
Earlier, Modi’s comment that selling pakodas should be considered a full-fledged employment raised many eyebrows.
In January, former finance minister and Congress leader P. Chidambaram took to Twitter to claim that the Centre was “clueless” about jobs.
“Even selling pakodas is a ‘job’ said PM. By that logic, even begging is a job. Let’s count poor or disabled persons who are forced to beg for a living as ‘employed’ people… The truth is India is witnessing a three year spell of modest, but jobless, growth and the government is clueless about how to create jobs,” he said.
Last year, interim finance minister Piyush Goyal too was caught in the storm after his controversial remark at the India Economic Summit that private sector companies slashing the number of jobs was a positive sign as it would push the youth into becoming entrepreneurs.
The Niti Aayog too noted that employment generation was an area of concern and there was an immediate need to chalk out a clear formula to expand jobs across sectors.
“We feel that this issue (of jobs) still needs to addressed and more so reliable data needs to be collated,” a government official, who did not wish to be identified, told The Print.
Prof PK Sharma, Freelance Journalist,Barnala (Punjab)
Nothing Startling !
It speaks volumes of PM Modi’s non-seriousness and dereliction of his responsibility approach towards the nation, issues and the hot seat in which he has been in for the past more than four years now !
Ironically, when his government is now being assailed for ever mounting unemployment problem in the nation, NaMo has woken up from his deep and long slumber of more than four years !
It is indeed run up to the Marathon- 2019 Lok Sabha Polls that has constrained NaMo to take into account the gravity and magnitude of the problem in question. Hence, the necessity of this meeting with economists and analysts ! It is only the ensuing assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan, Chhatisgarh,Mizoram and then Lok Sabha Polls which did compel NaMo to pay some heed to the burning problem only for the sake of making some sort of justification during the election campaign that this issue has been under my due and active consideration !
Had he been really serious in keeping poll promise of offering two crore jobs every year, he should have undertaken this exercise of meeting economists and analysts atleast twice in a year to have their feedback and inputs which he is now undertaking just to pretend before the masses that he is serious about the promise that he made in 2013-2014 Lok Sabha Polls campaign.
Irrespective of the outcome, had he reviewed this issue either twice or at least once in a year, he could have been justified in claiming that he did strive very hard to redress this grievance of the youth seriously but could not succeed despite his best efforts?
Now who will believe NaMo that he has been taking this problem of “the demographic dividend” sincerely ?
Even innocent youth will see through his “opportunistic and clever trick ” that every step “now ” which should have bern initiated earlier on is now being taken eyeing votes in ensuing asssembly polls and the Grand Final-Lok Sabha Polls-2019 !
Prof PK Sharma,Freelance Journalist
Pom Anm Nest,Barnala(Punjab)