Here’s What Modi Govt Said on Unemployment Data Row

NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson Rajiv Kumar said that the data on jobs will be released when it is “ready.”

NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson Rajiv Kumar said that the data on jobs will be released by the Narendra Modi-led government when it is “ready.”

(Photo: PTI)

NITI Aayog Vice Chairperson Rajiv Kumar and CEO Amitabh Kant on Thursday, 31 January, addressed a press conference over the controversy surrounding unemployment data and said that the numbers released were “not verified nor final.”

Kumar said that the government did not release the data on jobs as it was still being processed. He claimed that the data will be released by the Centre when it was “ready.”

Earlier on Thursday, a Business Standard report claimed to have accessed the National Sample Survey Office’s (NSSO) periodic labour force survey (PLFS). According to the survey, India’s unemployment rate was at a 45-year high of 6.1 percent in 2017-18.

“You cannot be growing at 7.2 percent and say there are no jobs being created... To my mind, there’s a lack of good quality jobs, that’s the problem.”

NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant

The NITI Aayog CEO further said they were creating enough jobs for new entrants.

The NSSO report was reportedly held back by the government, prompting two National Statistical Commission (NSC) members, including the acting chairman, to resign earlier this month.

(This is a developing story. The copy will be updated with more details.)