If there were no jobs, why is there no social unrest, says Arun Jaitley
As per exit polls, the party is staring at election losses in big states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh - which could pose to be a stumbling block during the general elections next year.
- Dec 10, 2018,
- Updated Dec 10, 2018 7:26 PM IST
Tomorrow is a big day for the ruling BJP party, as India counts votes from five states that saw assembly polls over the past month. As per exit polls, the party is staring at election losses in big states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh - which could pose to be a stumbling block during the general elections next year - but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley believes the Modi regime has made a good case for re-election.
"We have run a decisive and honest government. We have run a government which has brought in a large number of reforms in various sectors. Particularly, we have brought in market-related reforms, which have helped the economy to grow at a reasonable pace," Jaitley told The Economic Express. "We have taken steps to bring in more revenues in the system. We have rendered a huge amount of service to the poor and the under- privileged. Congress only gave slogans to the poor, we have transferred resources."
On the topic of the oft-heard criticism of jobless growth, Jaitley pointed to the absence of widespread social agitations associated with unemployment. "If there was no job creation in the country, why do we not see the kind of social unrest which would have been there?" he posed, adding that in the past four-and-half years that the government has been in power, there has been "no major agitation" in the country.
"Agitations take place only if there is a socioeconomic discontent or if there is an allegation of corruption. The fact that we have not had this itself is an evidence because when the economy grows, various sectors grow and they inherently create jobs," Jaitley told the daily.
According to him, the revival in the construction sector and the recovery that is underway in the textile sector as well signal good news where employment is concerned since they are high job creation sectors. There is good news on the manufacturing front, too. The country's manufacturing sector activity improved in November and touched an 11-month high as new order flows encouraged companies to lift production amid strong demand conditions, the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index showed earlier this month. This signals the strongest improvement in the health of the sector in almost one year.
"Most importantly, at a decentralised level, because a large part is still an informal economy, schemes like Mudra have helped in generating very large number of employment," added Jaitley.
The Finance Minister does not consider the state assembly elections to be a barometer for the general elections. Given that the BJP has been in power for a long time in two of three states that recently voted - and alternately in power in Rajasthan - the assembly polls focussed on state issues. "The agenda for the Lok Sabha elections is significantly different," Jaitley explained. "As the debate is building up, there will be only two issues. Congress will tom-tom the cause of a wide coalition, which I have referred to as the coalition of rivals. We will say that we have a track record of five years of the government led by Narendra Modi, which is a cohesive government."
In his opinion, the debate will eventually evolve into a choice between "a tried-and-tested and a successful prime minister in Modi" or another experiment with "an unstable incoherent kind of a coalition, which has repeatedly failed".
Edited by Sushmita Agarwal
Tomorrow is a big day for the ruling BJP party, as India counts votes from five states that saw assembly polls over the past month. As per exit polls, the party is staring at election losses in big states like Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh - which could pose to be a stumbling block during the general elections next year - but Finance Minister Arun Jaitley believes the Modi regime has made a good case for re-election.
"We have run a decisive and honest government. We have run a government which has brought in a large number of reforms in various sectors. Particularly, we have brought in market-related reforms, which have helped the economy to grow at a reasonable pace," Jaitley told The Economic Express. "We have taken steps to bring in more revenues in the system. We have rendered a huge amount of service to the poor and the under- privileged. Congress only gave slogans to the poor, we have transferred resources."
On the topic of the oft-heard criticism of jobless growth, Jaitley pointed to the absence of widespread social agitations associated with unemployment. "If there was no job creation in the country, why do we not see the kind of social unrest which would have been there?" he posed, adding that in the past four-and-half years that the government has been in power, there has been "no major agitation" in the country.
"Agitations take place only if there is a socioeconomic discontent or if there is an allegation of corruption. The fact that we have not had this itself is an evidence because when the economy grows, various sectors grow and they inherently create jobs," Jaitley told the daily.
According to him, the revival in the construction sector and the recovery that is underway in the textile sector as well signal good news where employment is concerned since they are high job creation sectors. There is good news on the manufacturing front, too. The country's manufacturing sector activity improved in November and touched an 11-month high as new order flows encouraged companies to lift production amid strong demand conditions, the Nikkei India Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index showed earlier this month. This signals the strongest improvement in the health of the sector in almost one year.
"Most importantly, at a decentralised level, because a large part is still an informal economy, schemes like Mudra have helped in generating very large number of employment," added Jaitley.
The Finance Minister does not consider the state assembly elections to be a barometer for the general elections. Given that the BJP has been in power for a long time in two of three states that recently voted - and alternately in power in Rajasthan - the assembly polls focussed on state issues. "The agenda for the Lok Sabha elections is significantly different," Jaitley explained. "As the debate is building up, there will be only two issues. Congress will tom-tom the cause of a wide coalition, which I have referred to as the coalition of rivals. We will say that we have a track record of five years of the government led by Narendra Modi, which is a cohesive government."
In his opinion, the debate will eventually evolve into a choice between "a tried-and-tested and a successful prime minister in Modi" or another experiment with "an unstable incoherent kind of a coalition, which has repeatedly failed".
Edited by Sushmita Agarwal