Congress takes dig at Modi's Rozgar Mela, terms it 'gimmick'

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday criticised Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the alleged lack of employment opportunities, saying he is holding Rozgar Melas as he is feeling the "heat of an election year" and to save his image.

Addressing a Rozgar Mela this morning, Modi distributed over 51,000 appointment letters to the youth, mostly in the security forces.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge described the Rozgar Melas as "EMI -- Empty Manipulative Instalments".

"By promising two crore jobs annually Modi ji is distributing a few thousand recruitment letters to our youth in the form of EMIs," he said.

"Modi ji, if you had even an iota of concern about the future of the youth, you would not have played with their aspirations by participating in this PR stunt. The youth of the country have recognized the BJP's lies, gimmicks, and betrayal, and they will definitely show the Modi government the way out in 2024," he said in Hindi on microblogging site X.

Congress General Secretary Jairam Ramesh termed the Rozgar Melas as the "biggest jumlas" (rhetoric) and said the prime minister has "failed" to fulfil his promise of creating two crore jobs each year.

"After destroying the MSME sector with demonetisation, a badly designed GST and an ill-planned sudden lockdown, after betraying the hope of aspirational youths for more than nine years, the prime minister is feeling the heat in an election year. To save his flailing image, he has come up with one of the biggest jumlas -- the PM Rozgar Mela," he said on X.

Ramesh claimed that the "jobs are already sanctioned posts that have not been filled up for years due to some administrative or financial reasons. In a very large number of instances, appointment letters are being handed out by the prime minister even in cases of promotion".

"The Mela personalises employment in the government sector as if the PM is singularly responsible for mostly routine job offers," he said.

Noting that job creation comes from economic growth that is driven by investments, the Congress leader charged, "The PM Rozgar Mela is a gimmick and is yet another proof of a gigantic ego, enormous vanity, the unbounded self-obsession and the refusal to accept responsibility for the dire unemployment situation."

Kharge claimed the latest news is that in these Rozgar Melas, there are names of those who got promoted.

"For example, according to data provided by the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali, in April this year, the institute made 15 new appointments and approved the promotion of 21 persons. Recruitment letters were issued to them during the Rozgar melas.

"Maulana Azad National Urdu University in its reply in April 2023 said that appointment letters have been issued to 38 people, which includes 18 promotion cases," he claimed on X.