Within days of assuming office, Prime Minister Modi has constituted eight Cabinet Committees, including those on economic affairs, unemployment and national security. During the campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, a lot was said about how unemployment and economic slowdown were the biggest challenges the country was facing. Modi 2.0 has left no stone unturned in addressing the issue. The Prime Minister has formed high-level Cabinet Committees to look into them. This is the first time that such panels have been set up.
The data released by the Union Labour Ministry in May showed 7.8 per cent of all employable urban youth being jobless, while the percentage for the rural areas was 5.3 per cent. The unemployment rate in 2017-18 was 6.1 per cent. Taking things on a serious note, Modi has decided to head the panels himself.
Experts say that Modi has a tough job on hand. The economic growth slowed to a 5-year low of 5.8 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2018-19, pushing India behind China, due to poor showing by agriculture and manufacturing sectors. He has to come up with serious measures to tackle the issue. And they feel the panel(s) should come up with strong suggestions as very little time is left for the Union Budget. Investments for fresh projects are very low. Trade and private sector investment have slackened. Ideally, both these need to do well for the growth story to continue.