Congress leaders sharpen attacks on Modi government over youth job crisis

Priyanka Gandhi highlighted a deepening sense of frustration among the youth, which she attributes to a chronic lack of job creation over the past 12 years. She specifically pointed to the neglect of the manufacturing sector and MSMEs, alongside policies that she claims have crippled small businesses and the agricultural sector. These conditions, according to Gandhi, have fueled recent student protests across the country.

Expanding the critique, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge cited the NITI Aayog report alongside Periodic Labour Force Survey data to underscore the scale of the crisis. He noted that youth unemployment currently sits at 15.6 percent, with that figure climbing to 19.5 percent among young women. Kharge demanded accountability for the government's unfulfilled promise of creating 2 crore jobs annually, arguing that the demographic dividend is rapidly shifting toward a disaster. He highlighted that 67 percent of unemployed Indians aged 20 to 29 are graduates, suggesting that the current education system is failing to provide a viable path to gainful employment. Kharge further alleged that government recruitment processes are plagued by delays and paper leaks, leaving families who invested in education loans with few prospects.