NEW DELHI: Dismissing claims of lack of jobs in the country, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that lack of data on jobs has given an "opportunity" to the opposition to paint a picture of their choice and blame his government.

Speaking to Swarajya Magazine, the Prime Minister listed development in various infrastructure sectors such as highways, railways, airlines and housing to assert that employment opportunities have increased under his government.

The Prime Minister cited a study based on EPFO data to claim that more than 70 lakh jobs were created in the formal sector last year. This in addition to the jobs created in the informal sector, which constitutes 80 percent of all jobs in the country, he said.

He also gave an example of an international report which had on declining poverty in India. "Do you think that is possible without people having jobs?" he questioned.

The Prime Minister also refuted opposition criticism and referred to the job data from Karnataka and West Bengal.

"...the previous Karnataka government claimed to have created 53 lakh jobs. The West Bengal government said it created 68 lakh jobs in the last term...Is it possible that states are creating jobs but the Centre is creating joblessness?" the Prime Minister reasoned.

The Prime Minister also alleged that the previous government led by the UPA alliance had left "several landmines" in various sectors of the Indian economy. However, when his government came to power in 2014, it decided not to disclose the shortcomings of the previous government in “national interest”.

"...Needless to say, we preferred to think of ‘India First’ instead of putting politics first," he said.

During his interview, PM Modi also addressed the issue of farmers' distress and spelt out a four-fold strategy to improve the plight of India's agriculture sector -- cutting inputs costs, raising prices of produce, ensuring minimum harvest and post-harvest losses, and creating more avenues for income generation.

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