JAIPUR: To draw public attention to ‘rising joblessness’ in the country, a banner painted with the words ‘National Register of Unemployment’ was launched at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Yuva Jan Aakrosh Rally’ in Jaipur on Thursday.
Over five lakh youth registered themselves as ‘jobless’, with more than 58,000 from Rajasthan, the highest from any state.
Seen as Congress’s counter to the Centre’s Citizenship (Amendment) Act and the National Population Register (NPR), the register is aimed at arriving at an actual figure on the number of jobless youth in the country.
People who turned up at the rally were asked to give a missed call on a toll-free number — 8151994411 — and register themselves as unemployed.
Slogans such as “Degree hai rojgar nahi (have degrees, not jobs), “Meri naukri kahan hain? (where is my job?) and “Jumle nahin, naukri chahiye (want jobs, not hollow promises) were raised at the rally, which also featured Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, his deputy Sachin Pilot and a raft of other top leaders. Rahul unveiled the banner at the protest.
“The Youth Congress will soon launch the National Register of Unemployed Youth. Every single jobless youth should register themselves with it, as it will enable us to take their plight to the prime minister,” a Youth Congress leader said.
Many more are likely to register themselves as jobless in the coming days. The Congress expects that the three-month drive will see lakhs registering themselves as unemployed.
The register, will be sent to the PM. Ashok Chandna, the state’s sports and youth affairs minister, said, “Despite faced with a grim job scenario, the central government is trying to break the country through CAA, NPR and NRC.”
Mukesh Pareek, a BJP spokesperson, said, “The Congress should focus on giving jobs to the state’s youth as it had promised. It is sad how the youth fell for their promises and are now feeling neglected.