‘Unemployment exists only in media reports’

BJP president Amit Shah on Friday rebutted the Opposition’s claim that unemployment had risen during the three years of the NDA government, saying joblessness was only present in media reports.

The Opposition has targeted the government after official figures showed a marginal increase in unemployment — from 4.9% in 2013-14 to 5% in 2015-16. The latest Labour Bureau report claims 1.52 lakh casual labourers lost jobs during October-December 2016. “There is no system to get an accurate assessment about the job availability,” Shah said at BJP headquarters here.

The Congress demanded from the government a white paper its employment strategy but Shah rejected the demand, saying the previous UPA govt would not have gone out of power had it thought of employment. As he listed the Modi government’s achievements — from e-auction of coal mine to launch of 104 satellites in one go — Shah said NDA govt had tried to give a new outlook to employment.