In the first two years of the NDA rule, there was growth but no jobs and now in the third year and the first part of the fourth year, there is neither growth nor jobs. The Government has right now no programme on how to generate jobs. The domestic investors are not putting funds while the Modi government has curtailed public sector investment. The net result is that not only there is no generation of new jobs, the existing jobs have been threatened with widespread retrenchment and layoffs in large number of industries including the manufacturing industry. The Government talked in a big way of Make in India when the PM took over, it was supposed to make India the manufacturing hub and lead to the foreign companies setting up industries in India. At the end of three years of Make in India, the industry associations are apprehensive whether they can maintain their existing manufacturing programme since demand has fallen in a large number of areas due to the adverse impact of demonetisation in the informal sector.

The ground reality is that the manufacturing sector is crippled now rather than buoyant and major manufacturing firms laid off around 30 per cent of their staff in 2016 with levels of retrenchment expected to reach 40 per cent in 2017.What can be more devastating to the existing young workers than this? The talk of Make in India and turning India into a manufacturing hub for attracting global companies, is a cruel joke to these retrenched workforce. According to the country’s largest human resources service firm, Teamlease Services, the entry level jobs face the maximum risk as companies continue with their cost cutting measures and concerns over low growth.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Finance Minister might still gloat over the so called Historic demonetisation decision of November 8, 2016, but the studies are showing that demonetisation and massive de stocking before the launch of GST regime, took a toll on the manufacturing sector that grew by just 1.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2017-18 as compared to 5.3 per cent in the preceding quarter of 2016-2017.Untill 2015, the sector saw the highest share of new hiring at 75 to 60 per cent which came down to 50-60 per cent in 2016 and this declining trend will continue as the growth rate is falling and the new investments are not coming.

Rahul Gandhi has correctly focused on joblessness as the biggest problem facing the government at this hour. The crisis was there in the UPA rule also but it has accentuated in the Modi rule due to the arrogant policies of the Prime Minister. The entire budgetary strategy has not focused on creating jobs in the labour intensive sectors. Every day, 30, 000 young people are entering the job market and only 4500 persons can be provided with jobs. What will happen to the others? Our demographic dividend is being wasted due to the wrong policies of the Government- both under UPA and now more seriously under NDA regime.

According to the official economists, the total number of additional people entering the job market every year vary between 12 million to 13 million but only 2 to 3 lakh jobs are created in the formal sector. But now, the situation has further worsened with the fall in GDP growth. Since the GDP has a correlation with employment generation and livelihood, the fall in GDP growth in 2017-18, has further worsened the already critical job situation. If the GDP growth decline continues, there will be increasing social tensions in the coming year.

Rahul Gandhi, as the leader of the main opposition party in the country, has the unenviable task to focus on the economic issues in his campaign against the BJP. The British Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn may be two decades his senior in age, but Corbyn is a darling of the young masses in Britain due to his consistent emphasis on economic issues and generating jobs for the unemployed. He is now on the verge of occupying the seat at 10 Downing Street whenever the next elections are held, due to the all round success of his campaign for a new inclusive Britain. Corbyn like Bernie Sanders calls himself a leader of strong socialist principles and he is committed to remove inequality in the British society with his far reaching socio economic programme.

The Congress has to reinvent now on these lines. Enough dabbling with neo liberal policies was done during the ten year rule of the UPA. The time has come for the Congress to do away with its neo liberal past and declare in loud voice its socialist credentials. These credentials will be rooted to the demands of the resurgent India bereft of any orthodoxy. The Congress as the biggest opposition party has to act as the pivot of that programme based unity that will be a challenge to the saffron forces. It will be better if Rahul takes over as Congress President much before the state assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal and follows it up with his talks for programme based front of the anti-BJP forces. A solid pro public sector thrust in economic programme will make him more acceptable to the Left also and that will facilitate the formation of a powerful front to confront the BJP in the coming assembly elections. Time is ripe for an programmatic assault against the BJP and Rahul has to take the plunge with gusto and the determination to win.(IPA Service)