Congress hits out at PM Modi Government over high unemployment rate

Congress attacked the Modi government on Thursday over the issue of a high unemployment rate in the country. Congress said that the unemployment rate is much higher in India than it is in other countries around the world. According to Congress, more than 10 million youth in the nation are currently unemployed and the country's demographic dividend was turning into a 'demographic disaster'.

READ | Surjewala claims financial exclusion is the norm in BJP led government

Surjewala's press conference

The press conference was called by the communications in-charge of the Congress party. Surjewala referenced two reports that were released on Thursday and claimed that the reports show a very dismal picture. Adding further, he expressed his concerns over the state of education and unemployment in the country. Surjewala raised concerns over a report released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) titled, 'Unemployment in India, a statistical profile' which had stated the unemployment rate to be at 7.03% in May this year.

"In August, the unemployment rate has increased to 8.19%. In India, unemployment is 100 percent more than that in the world. In males, it is six percent and in females, it is 17%. These statistics expose the reality of "Beti Bachao Beti Padhao' government," he said.

READ | Randeep Surjewala deletes tweet saying B'desh Taka costlier than Rupee

'More than 1 crore youth are unemployed'

Talking about unemployment among the educated youth of the country, Surjewala said, "If you are graduate or have studied more the unemployment rate is 15% which is thrice the average in the world. Today, more than 1 crore youth are unemployed," Randeep Singh Surjewala also referred to HRD Ministry's survey of, 'All India Survey on Higher Education' to call the situation worse in the field of education.

READ | PM Modi: Indians with govt that took big & tough economy decisions

"Around 74% of the population between 18 and 23 years of age does not get enrolled in college. Only 2.5% of colleges in the country can give Ph.D. degrees. Only 0.5% of students enrolled in higher education can pursue PhD. Thirty-five percent of colleges are running single programs and 83% are privately managed. Only 8.5% of teachers belong to scheduled castes," Surjewala said.

The Congress leader alleged that the "abysmal representation" of Schedule Castes in the teaching field was "a telling tale on the systematic discrimination perpetrated by this government against Scheduled Castes". "BJP has demolished the educational edifice, the employment apparatus and opportunities in India. BJP and the present government have turned the demographic dividend of India into a demographic disaster by their lopsided policies," Surjewala went on saying.

Talking about the 'Howdy Modi' event in the US, the Congress leader advised PM Modi that it was time for him to go back from "event management and stage-managed Howdy programs" to addressing 'howdy education' and 'howdy unemployment'.

READ | Indian Youth Congress take to the streets to protest MV act amendments

READ | Subramanian Swamy on Congress Modi praise & infighting: Split coming