New Delhi: The NITI Aayog has failed to keep its promise of releasing updated jobs data for the country by the end of March and is now unlikely to do so until the Lok Sabha elections are over, ThePrint has learnt.
The jobs data had become controversial after the leaked National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) report indicated in January that unemployment in the country had hit a 45-year high of 6.1 per cent in 2017, leaving the Narendra Modi government red-faced.
Unemployment and creation of jobs for millions of India’s young voters is a key issue in the elections, voting for which is set to begin on 11 April.
The Modi government had hurriedly withdrawn the NSSO report in February after the Niti Aayog had disputed its contents.
The Aayog had also termed the NSSO report as a draft one and in a press conference, held right after the report was leaked, its vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar had promised to release the final statistics on employment by March end.
That deadline has now passed.
In a text message to ThePrint, Kumar said he was not sure when the report would be released.
A government official, however, said that the central government may not be in a position to release any updated jobs data due to the Lok Sabha elections.
Also read: Modi & BJP have chosen not to counter Congress’s claims on jobs, and it’s the right strategy
Aayog had taken issue with data
In an interview to The Print earlier, Kumar had said the NSSO data did not reflect the employment generation in the unorganised sector.
The Aayog has, along with the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), taken upon itself to collate data and improve the overall quality of the statistical system of the country.
Jobs is an area of concern for the Modi government ahead of the general elections. It has been attacked by several quarters, including the opposition parties, for not being able to produce enough jobs in the country.
In 2014, job creation was one of the key promises made by the NDA, which spoke of bringing “acche din” in the country.
Last year Modi, in an interview, said that over 70 lakh jobs had been created 2017. He had then claimed that the problem was not a lack of jobs in the country but adequate data on the issue.
Also read: Modi govt created 15 million jobs a year, says BJP ‘report card’