Rahul Gandhi addresses the crowd during his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Madhya Pradesh. (Image: PTI)
Rahul Gandhi also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government for not taking measures towards carrying out a nationwide caste census
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday claimed that India has “double the unemployment as compared to Pakistan”, saying that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s poor financial decisions are the reason behind this.
At his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, Rahul Gandhi addressed the public and said that India’s performance is worse than that of Bangladesh and Bhutan.
“The country is facing injustice on many fronts. There is economic and social injustice. Farmers are facing injustice. Our country is facing the worst unemployment rate in the last 40 years. India’s unemployment rate is double that of Pakistan. 23 per cent of youth were unemployed in India and 12 per cent in Pakistan,” he said.
“We have more unemployed youth than Bangladesh and Bhutan because Narendra Modi has finished small businesses by demonetisation and implementing GST…” Gandhi added.
According to a 2022 World Bank report, India’s youth unemployment rate was recorded at 23.22 per cent, whereas — recording lower unemployment rates — its neighbouring nations Pakistan and Bangladesh stood at 11.3 per cent and 12.9 per cent respectively.
The former Congress President also attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party-led central government for not taking measures towards carrying out a nationwide caste census.
He noted that the ownership of businesses in several sectors is not held by the backward classes, adding that, the government does not wish to let this fact out into the public domain.
“Caste census is the X-ray of India. No one should have a problem with it. They (BJP) don’t want the country to know the truth. In the private sector, look at the owners of hospitals and colleges. These owners will not be coming from backward classes. Look at the MGNREGA list and labourers’ data, there you will find adequate representation from backward classes,” Gandhi said.
On February 24, Rahul Gandhi took his Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra to Uttar Pradesh. Addressing a gathering in Sambhal, he had said that the youths would not be using their mobile phones for 12 hours a day had there been no unemployment in the country.
Gandhi had said, “There is no employment in India, that is why you use your mobile phone for 12 hours. Did you know that the sons of big businessmen don’t watch Reels, they count money 24 hours (a day)?”
“If you get employment, you will watch Reels for half an hour and work for 12 hours,” the Congress leader said.
(With ANI inputs)
