In 2014, the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) was 15.3%
Editorial: Why the neglect of the construction and employment sectors? latest news: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's record of participating in parliamentary proceedings has not been very good. His speeches have been laced with half-truths and sometimes outright lies, due to which some of his speeches have been rejected by the Lok Sabha Speaker from the House's record. Most of the times, his behavior has also been like that of a stubborn child. While such behavior has given the ruling party, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party, opportunities to attack him politically, it has also trapped the intelligent leaders of the Congress party and its allies in a precarious position.
Contrary to such an image, Rahul Gandhi's speech during the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the President's address in the Lok Sabha on Monday was notable for its political soundness. This was the first time that his tone was not purely negative. Some of the points he raised were weighty. It is not that he avoided half-truths or slander; he certainly used them, but in very limited quantities. Most of the 45-minute speech was based on substantive matters and due to this, he did not have to face much interruption.
Two points in this speech were particularly noteworthy. One was the failure of governments to boost the manufacturing sector and the other was the continued failure to reduce unemployment. He praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi for launching the ‘Make in India’ program, but at the same time said that the results of this program have not been commendable so far. The Indian manufacturing sector is still fundamentally playing into the hands of China. Every component is being imported from that country, it is not even being manufactured in our country. In our country, products are being manufactured by fitting Chinese components using screwdrivers.
The concept of ‘Make in India’ is currently limited to this point. In 2014, the contribution of the manufacturing sector to the gross domestic product (GDP) was 15.3%. In 2024, this share came down to 12.6%. These figures are a reflection of the reality that the trend of mortgaged manufacturing sector to China is not stopping and the government has not been able to change the trend. This same erosion faced by the manufacturing sector is continuously increasing unemployment. In the 1990s, when the economy was opened to foreign investment, the goal was to boost both consumerism and manufacturing.
The countrymen would buy more goods and this interest would become the basis for more production and manufacturing. The consumerist goal was successful, but manufacturing and productivity were handed over to China. Things started getting cheaper, but employment opportunities for Indians were continuously decreasing. The profits of businessmen kept increasing, the rich became richer, and even small businessmen became bigger. But the poverty of the poor did not go away. Due to the absence of work, the number of unemployed people increased.
Neither the previous UPA government nor the current government could stop this increase. Referring to India's successes in the field of Information Technology (IT), Mr. Gandhi asked the government to do something new through the participation of youth in the construction sector. It is a different matter that he did not come up with any suggestion about what this new approach should be. Despite such shortcomings, many of his ideas gave the impression of healthy thinking.
It is a well-known fact that the strength of the construction sector, while helping to continuously increase the number of jobs, also strengthens nation-building. Being the most populous country in the world can keep our economy stable in terms of consumption, but it cannot make India a powerful country. To become strong, it is extremely important to increase the contribution of the manufacturing sector to 30 percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In this context, Rahul Gandhi's statement is absolutely correct: "China cannot be defeated with engines and machines made in China. If we want to defeat it, the machines and engines will have to be made in India." Will the Modi government pay any attention to these words?
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