Opp corners Govt on caste census, inflation & lack of jobs

Kharge pointed out the President’s address did not mention issues like “unemployment” and “inflation”. Prices of tomatoes, onions, milk, groundnut, flour and rice have doubled since the government came to power. “Growth is in single digits and inflation is in double digits,” Kharge said.

“When an Israeli agency invited applications for jobs, our youth said ‘it’s better to die working in Israel than being unemployed here’. This is what the youth is saying. A youth from UP said ‘if I get a well-paying job here, I will never go to Israel’… The public is saying this,” Kharge said and claimed that the public sector was being “finished off”, leading to job loss. “There are 30 lakh vacancies in aided and government institutions. You recruit 10,000-12,000 and have the PM hand over the applications… If you want to offer jobs, recruit 30 lakh people and then distribute certificates,” he said.

Kharge also wondered why the PM was silent when women wrestlers were fighting for justice and violence engulfed Manipur. “Why were convicts of the Bilkis Bano case garlanded in Gujarat? It’s as if the fight was between Bilkis Bano and the BJP. The PM should condemn it,” he said. Hitting out at the government over alleged Chinese incursions across the LAC, he said: “The truth is that we are giving our land to China… First become a Guru in India, then Vishwa Guru.”

Countering BJP’s claim that “nothing was done” by Congress governments, Kharge said the literacy rate went from 18.3% in 1951 to 74% in 2013-2014, and today it is 77%. He said life expectancy went up from 32 years to 70 years, and it had now reduced to 69.27 years. Infant mortality rate had reduced from 165 per 1,000 births to 38 per 1,000 in 2013-14, and it had further reduced to 29 per 1,000 births now.

In the Lok Sabha, Gogoi alleged that the central government was weaving a mayajaal (a web of illusion) to divert people’s attention from realities. He raised the issues of Indians in hordes trying to cross over illegally into the US, human trafficking, army jawans worried about their future due to Agniveer, and students forced to enrol in universities of Russia, Ukraine and the Philippines unable to afford high Indian medical college fees. Gogoi also accused the government of sending investigative agencies after opposition leaders who questioned it.

DMK’s TR Baalu accused the Centre of not providing any aid for the devastation in the aftermath of massive rain and floods recently. He said the Centre set up a panel and he met the PM and Home Minister, who promised a package but nothing was given.