New Delhi, January 31: The Congress on Thurday slammed the Narendra Modi government claiming that unemployment has reached a 45-year high in the country. The Congress in its tweets said, “In just 5 years, PM NoMo has devastated the economy & driven unemployment to a 45 year high. The youth of India have one question for you Modiji, #HowsTheJobs ?” The grand old party attacked the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government a day after reports surfaced that the government was delaying the publication of the National Sample Survey Office's (NSSO) employment survey for 2017-18. GDP Slumps to 7.1% During July-September 2018 Vs 8.2% in First Quarter.

Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi also took a dig at the Modi government claiming that 6.5 crore youths were jobless in 2017. The Congress president tweeted, “NoMo Jobs! The Fuhrer promised us 2 Cr jobs a year. 5 years later, his leaked job creation report card reveals a National Disaster. Unemployment is at its highest in 45 yrs. 6.5 Cr youth are jobless in 2017-18 alone. Time for NoMo2Go.”

On January 28, the acting Chairman of the National Statistical Commission (NSC) PC Mohanan, along with external member JV Meenakshi, resigned expressing disappointment over the treatment meted out by the Narendra Modi government. According to a report, published by Business Standard, the former members believed that the government sidelined the commission before the release of the backdated Gross Domestic Product (GDP) series in 2018. The report says, the National Policy on Official Statistics was also announced without any reference to the Commission. India's GDP Growth Rate Peaked to 10.8% Under Manmohan Singh's Tenure in 2006-07, Shows Revised Data.

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI) clarified on the resignation of two members of the NSC. The ministry said that the members had not raised any concerns in the previous meetings. Clarifying the delay of publishing the employment report, the ministry said the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) had been designed to yield annual estimates of the labour force on employment and unemployment.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jan 31, 2019 02:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).