Kolkata, Jul 23 (PTI) Economist and former West Bengal finance minister Amit Mitra on Wednesday alleged that the Narendra Modi government’s official unemployment figures grossly understate the actual joblessness in India.
Mitra, principal chief advisor to the chief minister, claimed that the central government’s data — particularly from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) — was misleading countrymen by reporting unemployment as low as 4.9 per cent for the year 2023-24.
The economist cited a recent survey conducted by a foreign agency (Reuters), stating that 70 per cent of the leading global economists questioned the credibility of India’s official jobless figures, claiming they “mask” the real severity of the unemployment crisis.
“It is shocking that the Modi govt’s survey ON UNEMPLOYMENT, (PLFS) MISLEADS the citizens into believing that unemployment in India is as low as 4 per cent or thereabouts. 70 per cent of leading economists of the world, recently surveyed by Reuters, believe that the official jobless data of Govt of India is not only inaccurate, but tactfully ‘MASKS’ the severity of joblessness in the country,” Mitra posted on X.
He further referred to the PLFS criteria, stating that even unpaid family labour or engaging in just one hour of economic activity per week qualifies an individual as ’employed’, effectively excluding large numbers from the unemployment tally.
In contrast to the government’s 4.9 per cent unemployment estimate, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) places the rate at 8.05 per cent, nearly double, he said.
CMIE data also highlights that the absolute number of unemployed Indians frequently exceeds 40 million, a figure Mitra points out is comparable to the entire population of Spain.
Mitra also noted that what is more concerning is that, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), 83 per cent of India’s unemployed are youth, underscoring a generational crisis in employment.
He concluded by calling on the central government to address the growing “trust deficit”, and said that the truth must not be concealed. PTI SCH ACD
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