India is performing well on the economic front and has a better employment rate compared to other countries, Union minister Mansukh Mandaviya said at the meeting of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) lawmakers on Tuesday.
Mandaviya, who gave a presentation on the government’s interventions in sports and youth affairs and India’s performance and achievements in these sectors, said employment and job creation have been a high priority sector for the government. He added that India has lesser unemployment rate compared to other countries. “In 2025-26, the real GDP was 7.7%. There is sustained and inclusive economic growth. Every year, about 15 million youth enter the job market,” a lawmaker quoted Mandaviya as saying.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those who attended the meeting, a day after the BJP lost its bastion in Bihar’s Bankipur to poll-strategist-turned-politician Prashant Kishor and failed to win back its stronghold of Datia in Madhya Pradesh from the Congress. The BJP won the Manjalpur assembly by-poll seat in Gujarat.
Mandaviya spoke about the setting up of the National Sports University, the National Centre for Sports Science and Research, and policy interventions such as Khelo Bharat Niti and the National Sports Governance Act.
Modi last week asserted that the welfare of the youth is paramount against the backdrop of student protests against irregularities in the conduct of examinations, including National Eligibility cum Entrance Test paper leaks.
He asked NDA lawmakers at a parliamentary meeting to reach out to the youth and address their concerns. This was Modi’s first reaction to the protests over paper leaks and student suicides, which ended with Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation.
