Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi Monday said that neither the Congress-led UPA nor the BJP-led NDA has been able to tackle the problem of unemployment in the country.

Speaking during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s Address last week, Gandhi said, “Even though we have grown, we’ve grown fast, growing slightly slower now but we are growing. A universal problem that we have faced is that we have not been able to tackle the problem of unemployment. Neither the UPA government nor today’s NDA government has given a clear-cut answer to the youth of this country about employment.”

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On Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, Rahul Gandhi stated that while he considered it a good idea, the results have not been encouraging as India’s manufacturing share fell to the lowest in 60 years.

“The Prime Minister proposed the ‘Make in India’ programme, I think it was a good idea…The result is right in front of you, manufacturing fell from 15.3 per cent of GDP in 2014 to 12.6 per cent of GDP today, which is the lowest share of manufacturing in 60 years. I am not blaming the Prime Minister, it would not be fair to say that he did not try. I could say that the Prime Minister tried but he failed…,” he said.

Discussing the AI revolution, Rahul Gandhi highlighted India’s shortcomings in the sector, particularly in comparison to China and the United States. “People talk about AI, but it’s important to understand that AI on its own is meaningless because AI operates on top of data. Without data, AI means nothing. And if we look at data today, there is one thing that is very clear.

”Every single piece of data comes out of the production system in the world. The data that was used to make this phone, the data that is used to make electric cars. The data that is used to make basically all electronics on the planet today is owned by China. And the consumption data is owned by the United States…

“China has at least a 10-year lead on India in this space. China has been working on batteries, robots, motors, optics for the last 10 years and we are behind…We would ensure that our banking system is not captured by 2-3 companies that do not allow you to build a production system. But our banking system is open, dynamic, and accessible to small and medium businesses and to millions and millions of entrepreneurs who want to take part in this revolution. Our foreign policy would take into account this revolution.”

Taking a jibe at Prime Minister Modi, Rahul Gandhi remarked, “When we talk to the United States, we would not send our foreign minister to invite our Prime Minister to his coronation…Because if we had a production system and if we were working on these technologies, the American President would come here and invite the Prime Minister.”

Referring to the President’s address, Gandhi said he found it repetitive and unengaging as she listed the “same laundry list of the things that the Government has done.”

“I must say, I struggled through the President’s address to maintain my attention on what was being said because I had heard pretty much the same President’s address the last time and the time before that. It was the same laundry list of the things that the Government has done…,” he added.