Union textile minister Smriti Irani, on Thursday, called the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) report on unemployment in the country ‘fake news’. She even said that the data painted a distorted picture of employment.

Irani made these remarks while interacting with students at Shri Ram College of Commerce Business Conclave.

She was questioned about the report and unemployment figures, and responded saying, “I am happy that you asked this question because it gives me a sense of the distortion that is being done among people with regards to… fake news.”

In 2017-18, the country’s unemployment rate stood at a 45-year high of 6.1 per cent, reported Business Standard quoting the National Sample Survey Office’s periodic labour force survey (PLFS) as saying.

PTI

This data was collected by the NSSO between July 2017 and June 2018 – This was the first full financial year after the government demonetised high-value currency notes in November 2016 and the citizens were thrown unexpectedly into a pit.

Earlier In January, Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed that his government has created “crores of employment opportunities” across sectors in the four-and-half years.

Modi’s remarks in January assume significance as they come after the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, an independent think-tank, recently estimated that 11 million jobs were lost in the country in 2018, rural area being the worst hit.

Photo Credit: Reuters





Youth unemployment was much higher in 2017-18 than in previous years, according to the government report, and “much higher compared to that in the overall population”

Unemployment for rural male youth (aged 15-29) went from 5 per cent in 2011-12 to 17.4 per cent in 2017-18. For rural women in the same age group, joblessness went from 4.8 per cent in 2011-12 to 13.6 per cent in 2017-18, according to Business Standard.