Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday came out strongly against the Modi government’s economic policies, criticising the focus on big business and alleged attempts to manipulate employment data to hide the unemployment crisis.
Congress leader Jairam Ramesh on Monday came out strongly against the Modi government’s economic policies, criticising the focus on big business and alleged attempts to manipulate employment data to hide the unemployment crisis.
Talking on platform X, Ramesh pointed out three key facts that highlight the issue with the government’s economic policies:
“Industry’s share in GDP has been declining, while concentration in industry has been increasing, leading to higher prices for consumers and inflation.
Within the top 25 business groups in India, the top 5 groups are increasing their share at the expense of the remaining 20.
Despite big business groups growing larger, it is not accelerating economic growth and may even be having the opposite effect.”
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Ramesh emphasised the need for the government to support small and medium businesses, saying, “Governments must bet big on small and medium business. Instead, the Modi Govt is fixated on big business.”
He argued that this approach is misguided and that small and medium enterprises need more support to drive economic growth.
In a separate post, Ramesh also criticised the government’s latest survey report on employment, calling it a desperate attempt to hide the unemployment crisis.
According to Ramesh, the government’s statistics ministry has adopted a new definition of employment, where anyone working for just one hour a week is considered employed.
“This is a new ninja technique by the Modi government to reduce unemployment figures,” Ramesh stated.
“Despite this loose definition, the survey reveals that only 51.7 per cent of people have been able to find work.”
The survey also highlighted the low participation of women in economic activities, with only 23 per cent of women in cities engaged in any economic activity compared to 70.5 per cent of men.
Ramesh emphasised that the government’s policies over the past 11 years have pushed the country’s youth into despair.
“The situation is grim. Rising education costs and dwindling job opportunities have taken a toll on the youth. The government’s attempt to cover up this massive problem by manipulating numbers with complete shamelessness is appalling,” Ramesh said.
