Sitaram Yechury attacked PM Narendra Modi over rising unemployment.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday lashed out at the government over rising unemployment, saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi should conduct a 'Naukri Par Charcha', in a sarcastic reference to the title of his event with students a day ago.
Quoting a news report, Mr Yechury said that the "unemployment rate is the worst-ever in independent India". "Modi should do a Naukri Par Charcha, and listen to the ''mann ki baat'' of millions of jobless he has created with his policies like demonetisation and badly-planned GST," he said in a tweet.
Tens of thousands of workers affiliated to trade unions led a strike in parts of India earlier this month, disrupting transport and banking services in a protest against privatisation and the growing impact of an economic slowdown on jobs.
Asia's third largest economy is facing its worst slowdown in decades, and the government has revised its growth forecast to 5 per cent for the current financial year, the slowest pace in 11 years, blamed on weakening demand and private investment.
Thousands of people have lost jobs in the manufacturing and the construction sector and debt-ridden companies have cut their investment plans.
The unemployment rate rose to 7.7 per cent in December from 7 percent a year earlier, data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, a Mumbai-based think tank, showed.
The prime minister had on Monday had interacted with students at a programme called 'Pariksha Pe Charcha', citing the Chandrayaan moon landing setback as an example of why students should not shy away from trying to excel even if the outcome is unpredictable.
PM Modi also drew a comparison between studies and cricket matches (the 2001 India-Australia Test in particular) to drive home his point. "Our cricket team was facing setbacks. The mood was not very good. But in those moments, can we ever forget what Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman did? They turned the match around... Similarly, who can forget Anil Kumble bowling with an injury? This is the power of motivation and positive thinking," he said.