NEW DELHI, Sept 30: In a scathing critique, Congress General Secretary for Communications, Jairam Ramesh, has dismissed the government’s claims of significant job creation between 2021 and 2024 as “half-truths” and “spin-doctoring.” He emphasized that despite efforts to portray a positive economic record, the reality of 2014-2024 has been marked by what he termed “jobloss growth.”
Ramesh’s comments were in response to the government’s assertion that eight crore employment opportunities had been generated during the specified period, and that 6.2 crore new subscribers were added to the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) database. Ramesh contended that these claims are misleading and fail to address the quality and nature of the jobs being counted.
According to Ramesh, the government’s job creation figures are inflated by an overly broad definition of employment, which includes unpaid household work, particularly that of women. This tactic, he argued, distorts the true picture of employment by counting activities that do not represent genuine job creation. He also highlighted that many of the so-called “new jobs” are in low-productivity sectors such as agriculture, where workers were forced to return during the COVID-19 pandemic due to the shutdown of formal sectors like manufacturing and education.
“The government’s own data shows that during the pandemic, while critical sectors like education lost 12 lakh jobs, agriculture ‘created’ 1.8 crore jobs. This wasn’t real job creation, but rather a shift of workers to low-paid, informal work,” Ramesh stated, calling this transition an economic failure being presented as an achievement.
Ramesh also took issue with the use of EPFO data to claim employment growth, noting that the EPFO only tracks the organized sector, which constitutes less than 10% of the total workforce. He argued that many of the “new” EPFO subscribers were not new employees but existing workers whose registration was spurred by regulatory changes and easier registration processes. For instance, a 2020 Supreme Court ruling mandated the inclusion of contractual workers in the EPFO, while the digitalization of the registration process has made it easier for workers to enroll, thus inflating the numbers. Additionally, firms crossing the threshold of 20 employees are automatically included in the EPFO, which can create the illusion of more jobs being created than is actually the case.
“Many retirees also retain their assets in EPFO accounts due to attractive interest rates, further inflating the employment figures,” Ramesh added.
Ramesh was critical of the government’s overall economic policies, stating that despite statistical manipulations, India is facing its worst unemployment crisis in 45 years. He pointed out that the unemployment rate for graduates has reached a staggering 42%, a figure that reflects a deeper structural crisis in the economy. He attributed this to the decimation of job-creating micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), citing the “disastrous” impacts of demonetization, the hasty rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST), and the unplanned COVID-19 lockdowns.
Ramesh concluded his critique by accusing the government of prioritizing a few large business groups over fostering competition, which he argued has exacerbated inflation and stifled job creation. “No amount of spin-doctoring can change the fact that the past decade has seen ‘jobloss growth,’ and the unemployment crisis is a direct consequence of this government’s flawed economic policies,” he said.
#JobLossGrowth #SpinDoctoring #UnemploymentCrisis #EmploymentData #CongressVsGovt #JairamRamesh #JobCreationClaims #EconomicReality #EPFOStats #YouthUnemployment #EmploymentCrisis #MisleadingFigures