Rahul Gandhi's recent attacks on the government have focused on the economy and jobs (File)
Rahul Gandhi predicted that India will not be able to give jobs to its youth in the coming days as he attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi's policies at a virtual press conference today. The crisis would hit home in the next six-seven months, he said, reminding that "the media had made fun" of his prediction earlier this year on the coronavirus.
"India will not be able to provide employment to the youth. This is obvious. It has never happened in 70 years that our country is unable to give jobs to the youth," the Congress leader said.
"The media made fun of me when I warned the country that there will be heavy loss due to COVID-19. If you don't believe me, don't listen to me. Today I am saying that our country won't be able to give jobs. If you don't agree then wait for six-seven months," Mr Gandhi said.
The reason, he explained, was that those who would provide jobs in the unorganized sector had been finished by the economy.
"90% employment is in the unorganized sector. Small industries, farmers... PM Modi destroyed the system. You will see companies fall one after the other. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) will be destroyed after the moratorium period," Mr Gandhi said.
The Reserve Bank of India had announced a moratorium on loan repayment to commercial banks and non-banking financial companies until the end of August to help companies amid the country's fight against COVID-19.
Many businesses have been badly hit by the extended lockdown to slow the virus spread.
Mr Gandhi's recent attacks on the government have focused on the economy and jobs.
In a tweet on Wednesday, he said some two crore people lost their jobs in the last four months and asserted that the "truth about unemployment" cannot be hidden from the country.
"The future of 2 crore families is in the dark. The truth about unemployment and destruction of the economy cannot be hidden from the country by peddling fake news and hatred on Facebook," he said, referring to the row over a report by the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that alleged that senior Facebook executives had opposed applying hate speech rules to posts by certain BJP leaders.