After Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday announced 10 lakh government jobs in the next 18 months, the Congress questioned for how long the Centre will continue to make false promises.

Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that before being elected as the prime minister, Modi had promised two crore employment opportunities every year.

“Sixteen crore jobs were to be given in eight years,” Surjewala wrote on Twitter in Hindi. “Now they [BJP-ruled Centre] are saying that by 2024 only 10 lakh jobs will be given.”

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Surjewala claimed that 60 lakh government posts are lying vacant, including 30 lakh central government positions.

“Jumlebaazi [false promises] for how long?”

Earlier on Tuesday, Modi’s office had said that the prime minister has instructed various departments and ministries to recruit 10 lakh citizens on a “mission mode” over the next one-and-half years. The decision was taken after reviewing the status of human resources in all the departments, the prime minister’s office said.

Subsequently, several central ministries tweeted saying that steps are being taken to carry out the recruitment process.

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However, the Congress said that 10 lakh jobs is not enough at a time when the country is facing the “worst employment rate in 50 years”, ANI reported.

“Till how long will PM Modi distract us with the Twitter games?” Surjewala asked at a press conference.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati questioned whether the announcement was an “election mirage”.

“As a result of wrong policies and working style of the Centre, poverty, inflation, unemployment and devaluation of the rupee are at an all-time high,” she wrote in a series of tweets.

According to 2021 data from the World Bank, only 43% of India’s working age population has a job. The figure is lower than that of Bangladesh at 54%. Even Pakistan manages to do better at 48%.

Also read: In charts: What the data shows about India’s alarming unemployment situation