‘What about 2 crore jobs per year?’ Mallikarjun Kharge slams Centre on Budget 2022

NEW DELHI: Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman presented the Budget 2022 on February 1 and announced initiatives to improve digital education. The education budget allocation crossed Rs 1 lakh crore rupees for the first time. However, Budget 2022 drew criticism from opposition leaders, educationists and experts.

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Today during the Budget session 2022, the leader of opposition in Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, “Widespread unemployment is prevalent in the country. Youths are in distress because big factories are shutting down, investment is not coming, and the number of govt jobs is shrinking.”

“In 2014, you (BJP) promised 2 crore jobs every year. You should have provided 15 crore jobs by now. But how many jobs did you actually provide? This year's Budget promises just 60 lakh jobs in the next 5 years,” Mallikarjun Kharge said, as per ANI report.

He further said, “Nine lakh posts are vacant in the central government. About 15% of posts are vacant in the railways, 40% in defence and 12% in home affairs. Today unemployment rate in urban areas stands at 9% and in rural areas at 7.2%.”

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Saying that the rural joblessness is at an all-time high, Mallikarjun Kharge said, “And yet, the Modi govt has cut MNREGA allocation by 25%. There is not even a mention in the budget of how the youth and urban poor will get jobs. Has Modi ji postponed job creation to 'Amrit Kaal' 25 years later?”

What happened to 2 Cr new jobs per year?
Why are vacancies in govt jobs not filled?
What happened to 4 Cr houses promised to be built?
Why hasn't farmers income doubled?

Tomorrow, 'Hum Do' will deliver yet another budget suited for 'Humare Do' and not for 'Humare Youth'. pic.twitter.com/RE9Z9svzBJ

— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) January 31, 2022