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In the wake of the release of unemployment figures by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), NITI Aayog Vice Chairman Rajiv Kumar said the data was not released by the government as it is still being processed.
Earlier, the NSSO, a division of the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), released data that suggested that unemployment in India stood at 6.1 percent in 2017-18, the highest in 45 years.
Dismissing the report, Kumar told mediapersons, " The government did not release the data (on jobs) as it is still being processed. When the data is ready, we will release it."
"NITI Aayog doesn't have the final report. We need better quality of data, more frequent and more accurate data to do such analysis. We are in the process of procuring the data and it will be made available to you in March," Rajiv Kumar said.
"The feeling that we are trying to hide something is incorrect," NITI Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant added.
The report has been mired in controversy after two members of the National Statistical Commission (NSC) resigned on January 28, saying that the government had withheld its release.
Meanwhile, the Opposition has slammed the government after the unemployment figures surfaced. Congress President Rahul Gandhi tweeted:
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