Rahul Gandhi slams Modi Govt over unemployment: ‘Only 12 out of 1,000 get permanent jobs’

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday stepped up his attack on the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Union government for what he called the severity of unemployment in the country. The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha claimed that of every 1,000 young people, only 12 secured a permanent job.

Gandhi highlighted a grim reality of the labour market while addressing a massive gathering of students at the 'Chhatron ki Goonj' event in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh.

“Let me give you the figures: out of every 1000 young people, only 12 land a permanent job. As for your data, it is taken away from you; it is handed over to major corporations…. and you are ensnared,” Gandhi told the gathering during 'Chhatron ki Goonj' – a nationwide public outreach and student engagement campaign launched by Rahul Gandhi.

What is 'Chhatron ki Goonj'?

The campaign is designed to connect with Gen Z, youth, and job aspirants to protest and raise awareness about systemic failures in India's education and recruitment sectors. It started long before the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) began its agitation leading to resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.

The Rae Bareli MP warned that the youth are being manipulated by digital platforms to get them ‘addicted’ to social media. "You are told to watch as many reels as you like, send as many WhatsApp messages as you wish, and browse or create content on Instagram. This is the addiction of the 21st century, and then you are told to work for Blinkit or Uber, or to do manual labour. You can indulge in this 21st-century addiction, but you cannot get a job; you cannot find employment in this country," he said.

Gandhi stated that there are 40 crore ‘energetic young people’ in the country who represent the nation's true strength. He said that while people talk about China, America, and Russia, all of them pale in comparison to the youth of India and their potential in the 21st century.

“In the 21st century, a country's progress relies on two things: the youth potential that you possess and the data that you generate. India has the youth, and it also possesses the largest volume of data in the world. Every Indian consumes one gigabyte of data daily; future progress will be driven by this data and your potential. Youth plus data equals the 21st-century economy.”

However, Gandhi argued that the primary avenues for employment have been destroyed.

You won't see ‘Made in India’: RaGa

"The first door is manufacturing. Today, in the world, you'll see 'Made in China', 'Made in Vietnam', 'Made in Bangladesh', but you won't see 'Made in India'. The reason is that demonetisation and the wrong GST have destroyed our manufacturing system. Small businessmen who used to provide employment, and industries like leather, textile, and automobile that used to manufacture in India... all that has been finished. The first door is closed."

Rahul Gandhi also criticised the failure of 'Startup India' to support the common student. "The second door is entrepreneurship, which was called 'Startup India'. The most important thing in Startup India is bank loans for students like you, and financial support for small businesses. Brothers and sisters, India's banks will never give even one rupee to students like you. 90% of small and medium industries do not get bank loans. The door to entrepreneurship is closed."

Gandhi also spoke about prevalence of corruption and systemic failure in government job recruitment. "The third door is what we call government jobs, where you face paper leaks. In that door, brothers and sisters, only one out of 150 youths makes it. If 150 youths take an exam and look for a government job, only one youth gets through."

'Rebranding of a party workers' convention': UP DyCM

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya dismissed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ as a "flop show", saying it was merely "rebranding" of a party workers' convention as a students' event.

He asserted youths of the state including those in Prayagraj have stood, currently stand, and will continue to stand with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

In a post on X in Hindi after Gandhi's event, Maurya said, "Despite the open support of the SP 'bahadur' (chief) Akhilesh Yadav and the full might of the SP-Congress alliance, which acts as his pocket organisation, Congress's prince Rahul Gandhi's visit to Prayagraj proved to be a flop show. One cannot mask this political failure by rebranding a Congress workers' convention as a 'student event'."

Maurya added that youths of the country are witnessing Congress's "duplicity" - silence regarding issues in states where it is ruling or shares power but an uproar over the very same issues in BJP-ruled states.

"Even the support of Akhilesh Yadav proved to be nothing more than a flimsy straw for Shri Rahul Gandhi in Prayagraj," Maurya claimed.

(With agency inputs)