I quit because govt refused to release jobs report: Ex-Statistical Commission chief
New Delhi, Feb 8 (IBNS): Former head of India's Statistics Commission P.C. Mohanan has said he quit because the government refused to release the report on jobs.
Speaking to NDTV, Mohanan, who resigned on January 28, said: "When it came to the NSSO report, and one of the reports that we approved on December 5 as per the release calendar, was not getting released. So this was the last straw."
The report, which was not released officially but published in the Business Standard newspaper, said joblessness was at a 45-year high.
The central government's policy think tank NITI Aayog had called the report a "draft" and said it had not been not verified.
"Once the report is approved by the commission, it is known as the final report. You cannot say it has to be approved by the government. When you use the word 'approve', it creates certain questions of credibility. That raises questions of credibility," Mohanan told NDTV.
The former Statistics Commission head also clarified he had not resigned for personal reason as NITI Aayog vice-chief, Rajiv Kumar had said.
"In my letter, I made it very clear I have specific instances and we thought our continuing in the commission was not serving any purpose because the commission was not very effective and there's nothing personal in that. The government should take note of the issues and improve the system. And Meenakshi, who resigned along with me, also said the same thing," Mohanan said.
The report, which came out as the country is getting ready for the general elections, had set off a political controversy.
Hitting out at the BJP government, Congress president Rahul Gandhi tweeted, "NoMo Jobs! The Fuhrer promised us 2 Cr jobs a year. 5 years later, his leaked job creation report card reveals a National Disaster. Unemployment is at its highest in 45 yrs. 6.5 Cr youth are jobless in 2017-18 alone. Time for NoMo2Go."
Replying to Rahul's tweet, the BJP said: "It's clear that he (Rahul) has inherited Mussolini's shortsightedness and has myopic understanding of issues. EPFO's real data shows sharp increase in jobs, created in just the last 15 months. Only a man who hasn't ever held a proper job & is totally jobless can peddle such #FakeNews!"
P.C. Mohanan picture source: Facebook
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