The Aryavarth Express
Agency (Kolkata): Alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s guarantees on various issues have not been fulfilled, senior Trinamool Congress (TMC) leader Amit Mitra on Sunday claimed that 83 percent of unemployed individuals in the country are youths.
Mitra, reiterating his party’s support for the INDIA alliance, emphasized that internal disagreements within Congress, such as the recent spat between Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and senior leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, do not affect the TMC’s stance. “Around 83 percent of the jobless people in the country are young men and women,” Mitra, a former Finance Minister of West Bengal in Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet, stated at a press conference.
“Two-thirds of the educated young men and women are unemployed,” he added, emphasizing the dire situation. Mitra criticized the NDA government’s Skill India program, claiming it has failed to produce the expected results, with only around 4 percent of the country’s youth receiving vocational training.
Further criticizing PM Modi’s unmet promises, Mitra claimed that “51 crimes against women are committed every hour in the country.” He also noted that ‘household net financial savings’ in the country has plummeted to its lowest point in 50 years.
Mitra alleged that the guaranteed minimum support price (MSP) for farmers is not being provided, stating that “30 farmers commit suicide every day.” He also highlighted the significant rise in India’s external debt over the past decade, doubling from Rs 3,65,000 crore ten years ago to Rs 7,48,000 crore in the 2022-23 financial year.
Accusing the BJP-led NDA government of withholding funds from West Bengal after the TMC’s landslide victory in the 2021 assembly polls, Mitra said, “We have not received a single Rupee under MNREGA and Awas Yojana because they lost in 2021,” questioning whether this was “the Prime Minister’s guarantee.”
Mitra pointed out that more than 2.15 crore women in Bengal have been financially empowered under the ‘Lakshmir Bhandar’ scheme. He noted that the BJP is now also proposing to increase financial support for women by Rs 100.
Reaffirming TMC’s position within the INDIA alliance, Mitra stated that Congress internal matters do not affect their commitment. “As far as the Trinamool Congress is concerned, we were with the INDIA alliance as one of the founders, we are there, and we will be in it; this is Mamata Banerjee’s position,” he asserted. The TMC had previously accused Chowdhury of hindering the alliance’s efforts in the state.