If Selling Pakodas is a Job, Even Begging is a Job: Chidambaram Attacks PM Modi

New Delhi: Senior Congress leader and former finance minister P Chidambaram slammed the Narendra Modi government on Sunday for its ‘wild claims’ on job creation, and said that if selling ‘pakodas’ counts as job, begging should also be considered a job.

In a series of tweets, Chidambaram said that the government is clueless about creating employment and the truth is that India has been witnessing a three-year spell of modest, but jobless growth.

“Even selling pakodas is a 'job' said PM. By that logic, even begging is a job. Let's count poor or disabled persons who are forced to beg for a living as 'employed' people,” he tweeted.

The dig at the PM comes a few days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in an interview to a TV channel, "If a person selling pakodas (snacks) earns Rs. 200 at the end of the day, will it be considered employment or not?" The Congress leader said that the public should get prepared to face an assault on its common sense by the government’s claims about job growth in the coming days. In the coming week, the Centre will present the Union Budget and the Economic Survey, which reviews the overall state of the economy in the last 12 months and highlights the policy initiatives of the government. To beat hollow the government’s claims on creating jobs, Chidambaram also pointed out that a minister in the Modi government wanted MGNREGA jobs to be counted as employment. “So they are 'job' holders for 100 days and jobless for 265 days,” he retorted.

He also refuted that 70 lakh new jobs were created in the last year, a claim based on the number of enrollments in the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation. “A new registration in any year did not mean a new job was created in that year; it could mean that an informal job was formalised and a non-subscriber became a subscriber in that year,” he wrote.

“Real job creation will be reflected by robust increase in private investment, private consumption, exports and credit demand. Not happening yet,” he added.

Demanding that government be more transparent about the figures, the Congress leader said, “In the debate on jobs, it is important to keep the distinction between 'job' and 'self employment'. A 'job' is certain, regular and reasonably secure. We want to know how many such jobs have been created.”