Terming the huge increase in unemployment the biggest failure of the Modi government, the CPI(M), in its manifesto released on Thursday at the party headquarters in Delhi, called for inclusion of “right to work” as a constitutional right.
The Modi government had promised two crore jobs a year. Far from implementing this guarantee, the last five years have actually seen a reduction in jobs, the CPI(M) said. The manifesto quotes the CMIE figures which show that the unemployment rate in August 2023 was 8.1% which is the lowest in six years.
There are an estimated 25 lakh jobs vacant in various government departments and public sector undertakings. The party said that instead of filling these posts, there had been a sharp deterioration with the mass casualisation, contractorisation and informalisation of jobs across the sector. “The vacancies in government and public sector posts must be filled urgently,” CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury said at a press conference to release the manifesto. The party also wants the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) to be strengthened by doubling its budgetary allocation. “A new law guaranteeing urban employment must be legislated,” Mr. Yechury added.
