Nitin Gadkari’s big confession on Maratha quota stir: There are 'no jobs', reservation will do no good

Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari on Saturday confessed that there was a rapid increase in unemployment in India, the issue Congress president Rahul Gandhi has been raising for some time to score political points against the Narendra Modi government.

While speaking to reporters on the issue of Maratha quota stir in Maharashtra, Gadkari, a powerful minister in Modi’s cabinet, said that even if the reservation is given, the community may not get the jobs since there are none.

"Let's us assume the reservation is given. But there are no jobs. Because in banks, the jobs have shrunk because of IT. The government recruitment is frozen. Where are the jobs?" Gadkari asked.

The confession by the Union minister about the prevailing situation of joblessness in the country also exposed PM Modi’s tall claims of major boost in the country's economic development and jobs.

Also Read | Modi failed to provide jobs to youth, says Rahul Gandhi

The minister also said that there was a "school of thought" in the country which wants the reservation to be given on the basis of economic background and not on caste.

"So one school of thought is that a poor person is a poor person, he has no caste, creed or language. Whatever may be the religion -- the Muslim, the Hindu or the Maratha (a caste), in all communities there is one section which has no clothes to wear, no food to eat.

"One school of thought also is (that) we must also consider the poorest of the poor section in every community," he added.