PSUs were youth's dream for employment, now 2L jobs decreased: Rahul Gandhi

New Delhi: Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Sunday attacked the Centre over the decline of over two lakh jobs in the public sector undertakings (PSUs), saying it used to be pride of India and every youth's dream for employment and the "hopes of lakhs of youths are being crushed for the benefit of a few capitalist friends".

In a tweet in Hindi, Rahul Gandhi said, "PSUs used to be the pride of India and used to be every youth's dream for employment. However, these are not the government's priority today."

He said that employment in PSUs in the country has decreased from 16.9 lakh in 2014 to only 14.6 lakh in 2022.

"Does employment decrease in a developing country? In BSNL, 1.81 lakh employment decreased, in SAIL it came down by 61,928 in MTNL it decreased by 34,997, in SECL it decreased 29,140, in FCI it decreased 28,063 and in ONGC it decreased by 21,120," he said.

Taking a swipe at the government, the former Wayanad Lok Sabha MP said, "Those who made false promise of 2 crore jobs every year have ended more than 2 lakh jobs instead of increasing them. Moreover, the contract recruitment in these institutes has almost doubled. Is this finally a conspiracy to privatize these companies?

"Industrialists' loans waived, and government jobs cleared from PSU's. What kind of 'Amrit Kaal' is this? If this is really 'Amrit Kaal' then why are jobs disappearing like this? The country is grappling with record unemployment under this government as the hopes of lakhs of youth are being crushed for the benefit of a few capitalist friends.

"If the PSUs of India get the right environment and support from the government, they are capable of increasing both the economy and employment. PSUs are the property of the country and the countrymen, they have to be promoted so that they can strengthen the path of India's progress," he said.

On Saturday, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge hit out at the government over the decrease in government jobs in the PSUs.

The Congress has been critical of the BJP government over the record unemployment rate in the country in the last 40 years.