Sparking a major controversy, the MoS of Ministry of Labour and Employment Santosh Gangwar has on Saturday said that lack of qualifications among north Indian candidates leads to their unemployment. Claiming that there is no scarcity of job opportunities in the country, Gangwar said that there is a lack of qualifications among North Indian candidates. "I want to say that there is no dearth of job opportunities in the country. Those who come for recruitment in north India often complain that they are unable to find the quality in candidates required for the post they are hiring for," said Gangwar, while addressing a press conference on Saturday.

"I am looking after the same ministry and I monitor the situation on a daily basis. There is no dearth of employment in the country. We have employment exchanges for a purpose and we have also developed a separate system. Our ministry monitors the situation," Gangwar added. The minister also targeted Samajwadi Party leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Azam Khan and said that “Akhilesh ji is frightened”, adding that “nobody would be spared in this reign”.

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 Here is the video of the labour minister making his claims

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Opposition slams Gangwar on his statement

Minutes after MoS Gangwar made his controversial remark, Congress targeted the Centre on job creation. Taking to Twitter, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said that the BJP government was unable to create jobs. She went on to say that youth are waiting that the government will generate job opportunities, however, the government is insulting the North Indians. She added that this attitude won't work. 

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Economic slowdown

The statement by the MoS of Labour Ministry came at a time when the economy slumped to a seven-year low of 5% in April to June quarter from 8% a year ago. The economic slowdown coupled with employment has raised concerns among economists and politicians who are holding the Centre responsible for it. The slowdown was primarily due to a sharp dip in the manufacturing sector and agriculture output, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation had said in a statement. However, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman has announced a number of measures to tackle the economic slowdown.

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