NEW DELHI, Feb 18: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked the BJP over the issue of unemployment in Uttar Pradesh, saying double engine government meant “double blow” to the unemployed.
In a post in Hindi on X, Mr Gandhi claimed that presently every third youth of Uttar Pradesh was suffering from the “disease of unemployment.” “Where more than 1.5 lakh government posts are vacant, graduates, postgraduates and PhD holders are standing in line even for the posts that require minimum qualification,” the former Congress chief said.
“Double engine government means double blow to the unemployed!” he said. “First of all, the coming out of recruitment possibilities is a dream and even if the recruitment is being done then the paper gets leaked, if the paper happens then the result is not known and even when the result comes after a long wait, one often has to go to the court for ensuring joining,” he said.
Lakhs of students have become overage after waiting for years for recruitments from the Army to Railways and from education to police, he said. A student trapped in this maze of despair is falling victim to depression and breaking down, Mr Gandhi said.
“And being distressed by all this, when he comes out on the streets with his demands, he gets batons from the police,” he claimed. “For a student, a job is not just a source of income but also a dream to change the life of his family and with the breaking of this dream, the hopes of the entire family are shattered,” Mr Gandhi said. “The policies of Congress will do justice to the dreams of the youth, we will not let their penance go in vain,” he asserted.
The Congress’ Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra entered Uttar Pradesh on Friday and will traverse through the State before entering Rajasthan. The east-to-west Manipur-Mumbai Yatra will in all traverse 6,700 km through 15 States and aims to highlight the message of ‘nyaya’ (justice) while meeting common people on the way.
(Manas Dasgupta)
