Amit Mitra slams Centre over ‘misleading’ unemployment data
Times of India | 24 July 2025
Kolkata: Amit Mitra, the principal chief adviser to CM Mamata Banerjee, said on Wednesday the Centre's survey on unemployment in the country was misleading. Mitra posted on X that the survey misled citizens into believing that unemployment in India was just 4%. He claimed that 70% of the leading economists of the world, according to a survey, believed that the govt's unemployment data was not only inaccurate but also downplayed the severity of joblessness in the country.
Mitra said the trick was in the definitions of ‘employed' and ‘unemployed'. "Even unpaid family labour is considered employed! Even one hour of some economic activity a week makes the person ‘employed'! Thereby, dropping them all from the unemployed list," he posted on X.
He said that while the Centre cited 4.9% unemployment for 2023-24, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) estimated an 8% unemployment rate. "In fact, the absolute figure of unemployment has repeatedly pierced the 40 million mark, close to the entire population of Spain. Shockingly, 83% of India's unemployed consist of the youth of the country. The govt of India must remove this trust deficit and let the truth not be concealed," he added.