New Delhi: The Congress on Thursday harnessed the occasion of former prime minister Manmohan Singh’s birthday to highlight rising unemployment and falling education levels in India.
Since morning, the party’s social media handles were rife with multiple tributes to Singh. Its national spokesperson Randeep Surjewala, meanwhile, addressed the press to present the recently-released economic and higher education indicators that would reportedly substantiate the claim that the BJP-led Union government has left the country in a poor state.
Surjewala quoted figures from two reports: the 8th Annual All India Survey on Higher Education, 2018-19 released by the Ministry of Human Resource Development (MHRD), and the Unemployment in India: A Statistical Profile released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
Unemployment
The Congress leader said that at 8.19% in August, 2019, the unemployment rate in India in perhaps the highest since Independence. The August figure shows further deterioration from 7.03% in May 2019, which it was itself the highest in the last 50 years.
Surjewala also pointed out that the figures are much higher than the global average of 4.95% declared by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
The current global average unemployment rate is 4.95% & as per the latest CMIE report India’s unemployment rate is nearly double that amount at 7.46%.
And the BJP govt. still claims we’re the fast growing economy in the world. #BerozgaarBharat pic.twitter.com/JWK3pl0lM5
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 26, 2019
He also pointed out at the gender break up of the problem. “While the unemployment rate among men is 6%, it is 17.5% among women. This is the reality of the union government’s Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao mission.”
The rate of unemployment for men is 6.1% while that among women is more than double i.e. 17.5%. This is the reality of the ‘Beti Bachao Beti Padhao’ Govt: @rssurjewala#BerozgaarBharat pic.twitter.com/Vd2FCdHkL6
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 26, 2019
Both rural & urban unemployment have risen in the last four months but in all the “budgets” presented our FM @nsitharaman there is no policy to address the growing unemployment crisis. #BerozgaarBharat pic.twitter.com/XH6PJ0oXrk
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 26, 2019
Another staggering conclusion the CMIE report highlights, Surjewala said, is that the current unemployment rate is almost three times higher than the global average among those who are graduates or more. Almost 15% of those highly-educated people who are actively looking for a job are unable to find one.
“The report says that more than one young people are without a job now. In reality, however, the number may be much more,” said the Congress leader.
Unemployment level jumps to 15% among those who are graduates and above. This is three times the international average. Currently more than one crore youth are unemployed: @rssurjewala#BerozgaarBharat pic.twitter.com/70hbYS3kg8
— Congress (@INCIndia) September 26, 2019
Education
The MHRD report, the Congress leader said, throws up even more troubling statistics.
“The government in its own report admits that 74% among the youth, between 18 and 23 years, are not enrolled in colleges at the moment.
“Only 2.5% colleges in India are admitting students in PhD programmes. As many as 35% of the total colleges have only one single programme. And to top it all, 83% of the total number of colleges in India are privately managed. What has happened to the responsibility of the government which claimed to provide world-class education to all?” Surjewala asked.
Also read: A Simmering Unemployment Crisis in India
He added that only 8.5% of the total number of teachers are from Scheduled Caste communities, which means that even the minimum guaranteed reservation system is not being implemented properly.
“BJP and the present government has turned India’s demographic dividend into a demographic disaster because of their disastrous policies. A government that continues to say ‘everything is fine’ should think a little more,” he said, adding that it is “time for the prime minister to look beyond stage-managed programmes.”
He said that the prime minister should now start addressing the most pertinent question the youth of India is asking, that is “Howdy, Education, Howdy, Unemployment”.
He also said that in the 10 years the UPA was in the government, the unemployment rate had never shot up like this.
Earlier in the day, Congress took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While posting a video on Manmohan Singh, it described him as “the leader other leaders love”.
Sonia Gandhi, the party’s interim president, also wished the former prime minister on his birthday, recalled his contributions, and said, “Present day rulers across the spectrum have much to learn from his innate wisdom.”