Tuesday marked a pivotal moment in India’s political discourse as Congress dropped its explosive ‘Real State of the Economy 2026’ report, directly confronting the Modi government’s economic claims with hard data on rampant joblessness.
Delving into employment shifts over 2017-18 to 2023-24, the analysis uncovers a dismal picture: Manufacturing employment dwindled to 11.4% from 12.1%, services to 29.7% from 31.1%, while agriculture ballooned to 46.1%. This reversal underscores failed industrialization, pushing workers back to low-yield farms.
Job growth skews toward unregulated informal and gig work, leaving 40% of salaried staff without basic safeguards like contracts or social security – a ticking time bomb for social stability.
Questioning data credibility, the report invokes IMF’s ‘C’ grade for Indian statistics and highlights paradoxes: How does 0.5% inflation square with escalating family expenses, vanishing savings, exploding debts, rupee’s 2025 plunge as Asia’s weakest, and negative FDI in key months?
At the release event, Rajiv Gowda of Congress Research asserted the report unmasks true priorities: ballooning inequality, corporate windfalls, and job drought. In an era demanding sustainable progress, this serves as a roadmap for corrective action, pressing for policies that generate dignified livelihoods over hollow GDP boasts.