Govt refusing to accept job crisis: Rahul

New Delhi, February 23 

Firing a fresh salvo at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged the government “does not want to accept” that there was a “job crisis” in the country. He said the PM should hold discussions with the youth to address the issue.

During an interaction — Shiksha: Dasha aur Disha — with university students at the JLN Stadium here, he also alleged that the country’s wealth is “concentrated” in the hands of “a few people”. The Congress chief asserted that the state must pay for a large part of education of students. There was no immediate reaction from the government.

China is growing economically and one sees ‘Made in China’ labels on so many products in the country, Rahul Gandhi said, adding that he was “absolutely convinced” that India could go ahead of China. He reiterated the per hour job figures to attack the Prime Minister on the issue. 

“In a country of over 1.2 billion people, India is creating about 450 jobs per 24 hours while China is creating 50,000 jobs in the same 24 hours,” he said, claiming that “these are not my figures, but of the Finance Ministry given in the Lok Sabha”. However, the government “does not want to accept” that there is a “job crisis” in the country, he alleged.

“Our Prime Minister doesn’t seem to think this is a problem,” Rahul Gandhi said. “We need to first acknowledge that there is a problem and then, we need to galvanise support to fight it. That is what we (Congress) believe in,” he said. 

Wealth is “concentrated” in the hands of “a few people”, he alleged and asserted that the state must pay for a “large part of education” of students.

Attacking the BJP, the Congress chief also alleged there has been a “steep decline” in the amount spent on education today by the government, compared to the expenditure when the UPA was in power.

“The BJP (government) is convinced that private industry should be used to support education and that privatisation is the key to education. We don’t believe that,” he said. The Congress does not support that privatisation is the way to improve the education system, the party chief said.

Improving the education system means making bank loans easier, scholarships, adding number of universities and colleges and pushing school enrolment, he said.

Asked about the institutions in the North-East, he said, “We are committed to increasing the number of higher education institutions in the North-East.” He also hit at the Centre over the appointment of Vice-Chancellors in various universities in the past few years. — PTI