NEW DELHI: Over 1 crore jobs were created in the country over the past one year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in Lok Sabha on Friday, rejecting criticism that the government had failed to create employment.

Modi said “truth was being trampled” over in the job debate and the opposition was misleading the country on the issue of job creation.

The PM said the government has decided to publish monthly job data and detailed data from the Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) to lend weight to his argument. He said in the nine months between September 2017 and May 2018, 45 lakh new subscribers had joined the EPFO , out of which 72% were less than 28 years of age.

He said the National Pension Scheme had attracted 5.68 lakh new subscribers duringthe same period. “Taking the EPF and NPS subscribers together, more than 50 lakh jobs were created in nine months,” Modi said, adding that this figure would reach 70 lakh for the full year.

He said data from the Employees State Insurance Scheme was not taken into account as Aadhaar linking of subscribers was still underway.

The PM referred to an independent study on professionals such as doctors, engineers , lawyers, chartered and cost accountants who entered the workforce.

Taking into account the private practice of these professionals, over 6 lakh jobs were created in 2016-17.

Referring to the informal sector, Modi said the transport sector also helped create jobs.

He said 7.60 lakh commercial vehicles were sold in the country last year. Taking into account that 25% was replacement of old vehicles, 5.7 lakh new vehicles were pressed into service for transporting goods. “If one commercial vehicle had two people working on it, nearly 11.40 lakh jobs were created in this sector,” Modi said.

