In that TV interview, the PM had said, “In one year, more than 70 lakh provident fund accounts have been added. Over 10 crore people have benefited from Mudra Yojana launched by the Centre… Government initiatives have empowered small-scale entrepreneurs and informal sectors. If someone opens a ‘pakoda’ shop in front of your office, does that not count as employment? The person’s daily earning of Rs 200 will never come into any books or accounts. The truth is massive people are being employed.”
Now, as the latest economic and jobs data underlines the massive problems at hand, there is reluctant acknowledgment that things do not look too bright. The government’s own data show that GDP growth was the slowest in five years last fiscal, falling below the 7% mark (at 6.8%) in 2018-19. In the last quarter of that year, GDP growth was only 5.8%, lowest in 20 quarters. As for unemployment, the government’s Periodic Labour Force Survey — which was finally released earlier this month — showed unemployment reached a 45-year high at 6.1% in 2017-18, with the youth, the educated and women facing the most trouble in getting jobs.
technobr 