Andhra Pradesh was No.1 in unemployment during YSRCP government’s term, says I&PR Minister Kolusu Parthasarathy

Minister for Information & Public Relations and Housing Kolusu Parthasarathy on Friday said that Andhra Pradesh had ranked first in unemployment according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey, with 24% of the graduates remaining unemployed during 2019-24, and that 4,100 youth committed suicide due to lack of employment during that period as per the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data.

Addressing the at the TDP central office on Friday, Mr. Parthasarathy said the NDA government provided 6,28,347 jobs in just 20 months and filled ​30,607 posts in various departments, and asserted that efforts were being made to achieve the ultimate target of providing jobs to two million youths.

Mr. Parthasarathy said the coalition government increased the social security pension from ₹3,000 to ₹6,000, and had been implementing free bus travel for women and the physically challenged as per the promise given at the time of the 2024 elections.

He noted that the government had fast-tracked the payment of compensation to the Polavaram project-affected people in three phases, which amounted to ₹1,943 crore.

The Minister accused the YSRCP leaders of using religion and festivals as  political tools. For them, the welfare of their president Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy appeared to be of primary concern and nothing else mattered. Hindu sentiments were repeatedly hurt during the YSRCP rule, the Minister alleged, insisting that adulteration of ghee used to make the Tirupati laddus destroyed the sanctity of the world-famous temple.

‘Jagan’s photo-ops’

He criticised Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy for not visiting any temple on the auspicious occasion of Ugadi and instead having “photo-op settings” at his camp office for the sake of publicity, noting that the YSRCP had been defeated for its various outrageous actions.