5.6 cr jobless: Amit Mitra attacks Centre

Kolkata: State Finance minister Amit Mitra lambasted the BJP-led Centre stating that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has launched a "surgical strike" on common people as a study revealed that the country's unemployment rate has shot up in May leaving 5.6 crore workers jobless. He also sought the Prime Minister's answer as the "net profit" of big (listed) business houses was highest in the past four years despite the rise in the unemployment rate.

In a tweet on Monday evening, Mitra has stated: "Modi's surgical strike on LIVELIHOODs exposed by recent findings. Unemployment rate shot up in May, leaving 5.6 CRORE WORKERS JOBLESS (14.5%, CMIE) Among salaried class,1.2 Crores JOBLESS. BUT, net PROFIT of big business (listed) HIGHEST IN 4 years-2.6% of GDP ! Jabab dijiya deshko". Mitra's tweet revealing the sudden rise in the unemployment rate in the country is alarming when the country is passing through a trying time because of the Covid pandemic.

It needs mention that Mitra had repeatedly criticised the economic policy of the Modi government that led to job cuts across the country. He had also held the faulty decision of demonetisation and hasty implementation of the GST regime as major causes behind the slowing down of the country's economy.

The data released by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) shows that the unemployment rate of the country in the month of April was 7.97 percent. It was 9.78 percent in urban and 7.13 percent in rural parts of the country.

Mitra had earlier also criticised both Modi and Union Home minister Amit Shah for creating negative propaganda about Bengal and stated that in a tweet on March 1 in a poll-bound Bengal: "Mo-Shah's negative propaganda on investment in Bengal BUSTED by 100 Bankers in Meet. Banks in Bengal lent Rs 63,000 Cr for investment to Medium-Sml industry, April 2020-January 2021, with State Government's support. Result: 23 lakh new jobs as per GoI capital/labour ratio. Mo-Shah bolun?"