Central Govt Claims Creating More Than 3.79 Lakh New Jobs

Amid the intensifying debate over unemployment in the country, the Narendra Modi-led central government has claimed to have generated over 3.79 lakh jobs between 2017 and 2019 in the various central government establishments, according to the budget 2019-20.

The analysis of the interim budget presented by Finance Minister Piyush Goyal on 1 February said that the central government created 2,51,279 jobs between 2017 and 2018. The report further estimated the jobs to rise by 3,79,544 to 36,15,770 on 1 March 2019.

The data is being highlighted at a time when the opposition parties including the Congress have been accusing the BJP government of rising unemployment. The government has rejected these charges.

Last week at the Motion of Thanks to the president's address to Parliament, as a reply to the ongoing debate, Modi cited data from provident fund, National Pension System (NPS), Income Tax filings and sale of vehicles among others to say crores of new jobs were created in the formal and unorganised sectors.

The budget documents include a sector-wise break-up on how the jobs were added in central government establishments. The highest jobs will be generated in the Ministry of Railways at 98,999 by the 1 March 2019 as against its actual strength of 12,70,714 in March 2017.

The second leading sector is the police department that is expected to add 79,353 jobs by 1 March 2019, up from the actual strength of 10,52,351 as on March 1, 2017. According to the data, direct and indirect tax departments are expected to reach a workforce of 80,143 and 92,842 by March 2019 respectively as against 50,208 and 53,394 employees in March 2017.