Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has been critical of the government's economic policies (File)
Rahul Gandhi on Friday hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government over data that said there were 15 lakh fewer job opportunities in August as compared to July.
The Congress MP, who has been fiercely critical of the Modi government's economic policies, including the National Monetization Pipeline announced by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman last month, declared that the Modi government is "harmful for employment".
"The Modi government is harmful for employment. They do not promote or support any kind of 'friendless' business or employment... and are trying to snatch away jobs those who have it. And a pretense of self-reliance is expected from countrymen," he tweeted in Hindi.
"Issued in public interest," Mr Gandhi, who has frequently attacked the government over "crony capitalism" and alleged that it favours certain industrial houses, added.
The attack came after CMIE (Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy) Managing Director Mahesh Vyas spoke to NDTV about a decline in job opportunities.
The latest data from the independent think-tank indicates the national unemployment jumped to 8.32 per cent last month - from 6.96 per cent in July. Urban unemployment - 9.78 per cent in August, from 8.3 per cent in July - was higher than the 7.2 per cent in March, before the second Covid wave.
The decline in job opportunities comes despite an economic rebound; first quarter 2021/22 GDP is 20.1 per cent - up from the -24.4 per cent in the corresponding quarter of the last fiscal year.
However, at least eight states across the country - including Delhi, Haryana, and Rajasthan - are still reporting double-digit unemployment rates. Haryana is the highest with 35.7 per cent.
Unemployment has been a key weapon in Mr Gandhi's arsenal.
Last month he criticised the NMP - the government's plans to monetise under-utilised brownfield assets from a variety of sectors to raise an estimated Rs 6 lakh crore over the next four years - and cautioned people to "take care (during the pandemic) because the government is busy with sales".
Mr Gandhi and other opposition leaders had expressed fear that privatisation of these assets - which provide employment to lakhs of people - could lead to many being thrown out of jobs.
Last year he accused the government of failing to meet its promise of jobs for two crore people per year and then enacting policies that "destroyed economic structure" and left crores jobless.
"The truth is 14 crore people have been made jobless by Narendra Modiji's policies ... The truth now is India cannot give its youth jobs," he said then.