New Delhi: The Narendra Modi dispensation has claimed to have generated over 3.79 lakh government jobs since 2017 in a bid to silence critics who had raised concerns over rising unemployment in the country.
1. According to the interim budget presented on February 1, the government said it has generated 2,51,279 jobs in central government establishments between 2017 and 2018. This is estimated to go up by 3,79,544 to reach 36,15,770 on March 1, 2019.
2. News agency PTI, which did a closer analysis of the budget document said Indian railways generated the bulk of the employment opportunities, followed by the police forces and the direct and indirect tax departments.
3. It said Indian Railways will generate the highest number of jobs — 98,999 by March 1, 2019 against its actual strength of 12,70,714 in March 2017.
4. There will be 79,353 additional jobs in police departments by March 1, 2019, up from the actual strength of 10,52,351 as on March 1, 2017.
5. Similarly, jobs in direct tax departments will touch an estimated 80,143 by next month as against 50,208 in March 2017 (an increase of 29,935 jobs).
6. In Indirect tax departments, the government said there were 53,394 employees in March 2017. This went up to 92,842 in March 2018. It also gave the same figure (92,842) as the estimated strength of indirect tax establishment as on March 1, 2019.
7. The Ministry of Civil Aviation will have 2,363 more personnel by March 1 this year against its actual strength of 1,174 in March 2017, the document shows.
8. Similarly, for the Department of Posts, it said there will be 4,21,068 personnel on March 1, 2019 as against its actual strength of 41,88,18 in March 2017.
9. In the Ministry of External Affairs, 11,877 people are estimated to be working by next month as against its actual strength of 10,044 in March 2017, which was estimated to have reached 11,870 in 2018.
10. Replying to the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the president’s address to Parliament last Thursday, Prime Minister Narendra 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, including transport, hotels and infrastructure.
