The Congress on Wednesday asked the Narendra Modi government to quit office if it cannot create jobs, telling the BJP that they have a “concrete plan” to tackle the question of unemployment.

The Congress has pounced on the government after chief economic adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran said on Tuesday: “It is incorrect to assume that the government can solve all social and economic problems such as unemployment”. He was speaking at the launch of the India Employment Report 2024.

While such a statement coming amid the election campaign is unusual, former finance minister P. Chidambaram said: “The most startling confession has been made by the chief economic adviser. He said that ‘government cannot solve the problem of unemployment’. Shocking if that is the official stand of the BJP government. We must boldly tell the BJP, ‘vacate your seat’. The Congress has a concrete plan to tackle the issue of unemployment and it will be revealed in its manifesto.”

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also argued that “our youth is bearing the brunt of the Modi government’s pathetic apathy, as ever-rising unemployment has destroyed their future”, while describing the report of the International Labour Organisation as conservative. He said: “We are sitting on a ‘ticking bomb’ of joblessness! But Modi government’s chief economic adviser protects the dear leader.”

Kharge said the latest ILO report says “83 per cent of jobless Indians are youth, only 17.5 per cent of youth in rural areas are engaged in regular work, the share of people employed in industry and manufacturing has remained the same since 2012 at 26 per cent of the total workforce, the percentage of youth involved in economic activities decreased from 42 per cent in 2012 to 37 per cent by 2022 and the youth unemployment has tripled under the Modi government. Modi promised 20 crore jobs in 10 years, but snatched more than 12 crore jobs from the youth! That is why the Congress has brought in Yuva Nyay.”

Party’s communications chief Jairam Ramesh too weighed in, saying: “The India Employment Report 2024, released by the International Labour Organisation and the Institute for Human Development, presents some extremely concerning facts on India’s labour market over the last 10 years of Anyay Kaal. Each year, around 70–80 lakh youths are added to the labour force, but between 2012 and 2019, there was almost zero growth in employment — just 0.01%!”