New Delhi, July 3: Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while speaking on the unemployment charge levelled by the Opposition, said the issue is not dwindling number of jobs, but the "lack of data on jobs".

Modi, while speaking to Swarajya magazine, said the old matrix used for assessing the state of employment in the nation cannot measure the new forms of employment. He also said his critics have failed to take into account the growing number of entrepreneurs, who have emerged as "job creators rather than job seekers".

"I don't blame our opponents for blaming us on the issue of jobs, after all no one has an accurate data on jobs. Our traditional matrix of measuring jobs is simply not good enough to measure new jobs in the new economy of New India," the Prime Minister said.

The Opposition, primarily the Congress, has asked the Centre to explain why it has failed to create two crore jobs per year, which Modi had promised in his prime ministerial run.

"Modi ji should come clear and apologise before the nation for fooling the youths. Where are the two crore jobs which you promises each year? On that rate, there should had been eight crore new jobs created so far. On the contrary, your government has stolen jobs from the people by unleashing demonetisation and a flawed GST," Congress chief Rahul Gandhi had said during a recent address in Delhi.

Reacting to Rahul Gandhi's tirade, BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra said the EPFO data which points towards 40 lakh new enrollments in the past 8 months indicate the pace at which jobs are growing in the economy.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 03, 2018 05:37 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).