Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge Blames PM Modi for Youth Unemployment in India

New Delhi, India – Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has criticized Prime Minister Narendra Modi, holding him responsible for the high unemployment rate among the youth in India. Citing an International Labour Organisation (ILO) report, Kharge stated that 83% of the unemployed in the country are young people.

In a series of tweets, Kharge said, “Modi Govt may be refuting independent economic reports like Citigroup on unemployment, but how will it deny government data? The truth is that Modi Govt is solely responsible for shattering the dreams of crores of Youth in the last 10 years!”

Kharge highlighted data from the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) and the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) to support his claims. He pointed out that 54 lakh jobs have been lost in the unincorporated manufacturing sector between 2015 and 2023. Additionally, the urban unemployment rate stands at 6.7% as of Q4 FY24.

Kharge also mentioned a report by IIM Lucknow, which shows high unemployment among the educated and low participation of women in the workforce. According to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE), the current unemployment rate in the country is 9.2%, with a staggering 18.5% among women.

Kharge further cited the India Employment Report 2024, which states that between 2012 and 2019, about 7 crore youth joined the labor force, but there was zero growth in employment. He also referred to a 2023 report by Azim Premji University, which found that 42.3% of graduates under the age of 25 are unemployed.

According to Kharge, the Modi government has failed to create enough jobs despite the country’s need for 1.2 crore jobs annually. He concluded by accusing the government of having a mission to keep the youth jobless.