Employment generation is not the objective of the culture ministry, minister G. Kishan Reddy told Parliament on Thursday, angering the Opposition.

BJP MP Harnath Singh Yadav had wanted to know “whether the government has promoted the Indian art, literature and culture to provide employment to youth”.

Reddy replied: “The mandate of the ministry of culture is preservation and conservation of cultural heritage, protection, development and promotion of literature, music, dance, visual arts and drama. Employment generation is not the objective of the ministry. However, the activities carried out through various organisations under the ministry generate indirect employment to a large number of people associated with Indian art, literature and culture.”

Samajwadi Party leader Jaya Bachchan and Trinamul Congress leader Jawahar Sircar questioned the government’s response.

“You are saying employment generation is not the objective of the ministry, of course employment generation is the objective of government,” Bachchan said.

Sircar, who has served as secretary in culture ministry, said that the ministry also creates a lot of jobs through its activities.

Minister of state for culture Arjun Ram Meghwal defended the reply, saying employment generation is the overall objective of the government while the culture ministry was concerned with promotion of art and culture.