Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, stated that a significant push towards manufacturing is the only option to alleviate India’s employment crisis.
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Speaking on Sunday to students and members of the Indian diaspora in Texas, Gandhi also reaffirmed his criticism of the government regarding its purported ideological stance, purported institutional capture, and purported favoritism towards specific business houses.
“The West has an employment issue. India faces an employment problem. But joblessness is not an issue in many nations. China most definitely does not face an employment crisis. Vietnam has no issues with jobs. The hub of the world’s production was the US that it eventually made its way to China, Korea, and Japan,” Gandhi told students at the University of Texas in Dallas.
According to Gandhi, the West and India abandoned the concept of production and delivered it to China, and instead organized itself around consumption. “You will never be able to use IT or consumption to employ people in India. India needs to consider the process of producing and planning for production. It is unacceptable that the Chinese will dominate the manufacturing sector. We need to reconsider what it means to produce in a democratic setting. If we continue on this current course, severe social issues will arise. This is the reason for the polarization of politics,” he continued.
Gandhi stated that India’s issue hadn’t been one of a lack of skills but rather one of “skill respect,” where those who have talents were not valued and there was a lack of a strong connection between the business system, education system, and skills infrastructure. Furthermore, he stated that the introduction of new technologies like artificial intelligence will affect different industries differently and result in the loss of some employment as well as the creation of new ones.
Indeed, the Indian government has made a clear commitment to raising the manufacturing sector’s part of the Economy. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has prioritized “ease of doing business,” “Make in India” promotion, “Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self Reliant India)” campaign, and several production-related incentive schemes across multiple sectors.
This has resulted in major investments, especially in electronics, but manufacturing’s share of the economy still remains small compared to services, and unemployment is still extremely high.
Gandhi spoke to the diaspora with an emphasis on politics, while his interactions with students were centered on the economy. Similar to the US, he referred to India as a “Union of states” just like the US, and the need to respect diversity.
“India, according to the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh), is one idea. India, in our opinion, is a multiplicity of ideas. Similar to the US, we think everyone deserves the right to space and the opportunity to engage. This is the conflict. And this became evident during the election when millions of people realized that the Indian Prime Minister was undermining the country’s constitution,” Gandhi commented.
Gandhi held out a copy of the Constitution and declared, “What I am saying to you – union of states, respect to languages, respect to religions, respect to traditions, respect to caste – is all in the Constitution.”