According to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, dynastic opposition parties are so detached from the youth that they are unable to understand the changes that are going place.
In an exclusive conversation with NDTV’s Editor-in-Chief Sanjay Pugalia, the Prime Minister discussed his future plans, a focus on infrastructure, the BJP’s prospects in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, and foreign policy.
Responding to the opposition’s complaints about unemployment, the Prime Minister stated that his administration has opened numerous new pathways for job creation, and evidence from different sources contradicts his rivals’ statements.
Pointing to all the infrastructure projects carried out by his government, the PM said in Hindi, “The first thing to know is that so much work cannot be done without manpower. Just spending money does not mean a road is built or work on the electrification of the railways is carried out. You need manpower for that. Which means employment opportunities are created. I can’t see any issue or truth in the opposition’s talk of unemployment.”
“I believe dynastic parties can’t understand the changes that are taking place among the youth. Before 2014, there were only a few hundred startups and now there are 1.25 lakh such companies. Each startup employs many bright youngsters. There are 100 unicorns as well, which means business worth ₹ 8 lakh crore. And these are people in the age group of 20-25, they are our sons and daughters,” he added.
Strides have also been made in the gaming arena, the PM said, adding that India will be a leader in the field and young people between the ages of 20 and 22 years will show the way. Another emerging area, he stressed, is the shift from an entertainment economy to a creative economy and said he firmly believes India’s creators will capture a significant share of the global market.
“Green jobs are also being created. Look at the aviation sector. There were 70 airports, now there are 150. My estimate is that the total number of aircraft in the country is 600-700 and an order has been placed for 1,000 new planes. Can anyone even imagine how many kinds of people will get employment? Therefore, this narrative is being peddled by people in politics who only know how things were 30 years ago and are talking about the same things,” he said.
Using numbers to back up his claims, Prime Minister Modi cited data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and said it had shown that unemployment has been halved.
“The PLFS data also states that 6 crore new jobs have been generated in six to seven years. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organization has also said the same thing. I ran a big campaign for government jobs as well, and these people (the opposition) keep shouting about employment,” he said.
Referring to a report released by the SKOCH group, PM Modi asserted, “It said 5 crore person-years of employment have been generated every year for the past 10 years. And they have used 22 parameters to say this. It’s backed up by research. All of this can be seen on the ground as well, it isn’t restricted to data alone.”
The Prime Minister is eyeing a historic third straight term in office and has set an ambitious target of winning 370 Lok Sabha seats for the BJP and over 400 for the NDA. Four phases of the ongoing election have been completed and the fifth is on Monday.
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