PM dismisses opposition’s campaign on job creation, says India will be an example for the world

New Delhi, Feb 25: The two-day News18 Rising India Summit kicked off on Monday, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's addressing at the event. A host of prominent political leaders, entertainment icons, economists and corporate leaders are already speaking at the summit.

On Monday, other prominent persons also expressed their views will be spiritual leaders Ramdev and Jaggi Vasudev, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, railway minister Piyush Goyal and Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kamal Nath.

While addressing at Rising India Summit 2019, Modi dismissed the opposition's campaign that India was seeing a rise in unemployment and questioned how it was possible when the country was growing at record rates."Is it possible that with India growing at record rates, there are no jobs in the country? With Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) at all time high, Indians moving out of poverty at record rate, roads and railway lines being constructed, how is India not producing jobs?" Modi said while speaking at News18's 'Rising India' summit.

Modi said that the hollowness of opposition's claim that nothing was being done on the job front, and that joblessness was increasing was evident with a spurt in job growth in states like West Bengal and Karnataka, which were governed by opposition parties.

"The West Bengal government is saying they have added 9 lakh jobs in the last year and nearly 67 lakh from 2012 to 2018. You may not like me, but believe them at least. Similar is the case with Karnataka. These people may not like me, but aren't these states in India? How could joblessness in country be increasing with jobs are also increasing in this country," Modi asked.

Modi also said that the opposition is only focused on targeting him and claimed that people who want to "loot" public money don't like him.

''Similar was the case with income tax. Earlier, people kept asking for respite, but nothing happened. We, on the other hand, reduced taxes to 5 percent and then provided complete rebate to those earning up to Rs 5 lakh a year.''

"Talking of GDP, when Atal ji handed over the government to the Congress, it was 8 percent. In 2014, it came down to 5 percent. But we have increased it again to 8 percent. They reduced the growth rate and we increased it again," said Modi.

The Prime Minister also stressed that India is going through an economic boom and dismissed reports of job loss.

''In the time of UPA government, India was put in the category of fragile five in 2013. Now, India has not only moved out of the fragile five group, it has become the fastest growing economy in the world. The Congress also left no stone unturned in bringing shame to the country in terms of business. During 2014, we slipped to 142 rank from 132. Now we are at the 77th spot, up by 23 spots in the ease of doing business ranking,'' Modi said.

Earlier in the day, giving a thumbs up to the work done by the Narendra Modi government in the last five years, SpiceJet Airlines co-founder Ajay Singh, who had coined the BJP's winning slogan 'Abki baar, Modi sarkar' in 2014, says "fir ek baar, Modi sarkar" at News18 Network's Rising India Summit 2019.

On Tuesday, BJP chief Amit Shah will express his views in a session titled "Mahabharat". Another session to watch out for on Tuesday will be one on 'Rebooting Kashmir', in which BJP national general secretary Ram Madhav will speak. His views will assume particular importance in the light of the recent terror attack in Pulwama and the attacks and threats to Kashmiris outside their home state.