Jobless growth has made aspirational youth restless: Manmohan

Manmohan slams govt for failing to uplift economy to its potential

New Delhi, Feb. 17: — PTI The “jobless growth” has slipped into “job- loss growth”, which, together with rural indebtedness and urban chaos, has made the growing number of aspirational youth restless, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Sunday, as he hit out at the government for failing to uplift the economy to its potential.

He asserted that the domestic challenges of India’s economy were daunting in their complexity and devastating in their impact on the society.

In his convocation address at the New Delhi Institute of Management here, he said the “grave agrarian crisis, the declining employment opportunities, the pervasive environmental degradation, and above all the divisive

The jobless growth slipping into job- loss growth, together with rural indebtedness & urban chaos have made the growing aspirational youth restless — Manmohan Singh, Former PM

forces at work” were some of the challenges facing the nation.

“Suicides of farmers and frequent farmer agitations reflect the structural imbalances in our economy which call for serious in- depth analysis and political will to address them,” the senior Congress leader asserted.

“The jobless growth slipping into job- loss growth, together with rural indebtedness and urban chaos have made the growing aspirational youth restless,” he said.

The attempts at creating additional job opportunities in the industrial sector have failed as industrial growth is not picking up fast enough, he alleged.

In a scathing attack on the government, Dr Singh said the small and unorganised sectors which were vibrant and contributing to generation of wealth and employment opportunities have grievously suffered in the wake of the “disastrous” demonetisation and “slipshod” introduction and implementation of the GST.

“Well thought- out policy and implementation strategies are required to stimulate industrial and commercial sectors. Kneejerk reactions and off- thecuff announcements of grandiose schemes and unproductive projects have manifestly failed to uplift the economy to its potential,” he alleged.

Dr Singh said one of the areas of major concern in the endeavours to promote employment- oriented industry is the gap between the skills that the industry needs and the skill- sets that the graduating students possess.

“We are living in a fastchanging world. On the one hand we are getting more and more integrated with the world economy and exposed to the global markets, and on the other hand we face massive economic and social challenges at home,” the former PM said.