Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut on Sunday claimed that the Narendra Modi government’s Make in India initiative was “an employment scam” and that the figures provided to show the employment generation and foreign investment did not add up.

Raut, in his weekly column “Rokhthok” in Sena mouthpiece Saamana, said Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and others repeatedly asserted that India is the fastest growing economy in the world. “If that is the case, then India should be the most attractive destination for youngsters,” The Indian Express quoted from the column. “It is also being said that foreign investors are queuing up to invest in India. But, all of these do not reflect in employment generation... It means there is some scam pertaining to the figures given on employment generation.”

The Rajya Sabha MP said Modi had claimed that one crore jobs have been generated in the past four years, but 40 lakh jobs were lost in the days following demonetisation in November 2016. “The agriculture sector, which used to generate the highest employment, has been destroyed completely,” Raut added.

In an address to the Lok Sabha in July, the prime minister had claimed that the Opposition was misleading the country on the matter of job creation. He had claimed that one crore jobs were created in the last one year.

Raut said several candidates applying for recruitment exams in the Railways had very high qualifications. He also cited data to show that the number of people applying for various government positions, such as those of peons, was highly disproportionate to the number of vacancies.

Raut alleged that since the Centre had banned cattle slaughter, the farm economy had suffered. “All this is happening in the name of religion, which does not provide food and work,” he wrote. “Those who question about the loss of existing jobs are labelled as anti-nationals.”

The ban on the sale of cattle for slaughter, which was issued in 2017, was later withdrawn.

Raut also accused the Centre of giving preference to the Reliance Group Hindustan Aeronautics Limited for the Rafale fighter jet deal with France, and said this was the reason that many workers in Nashik were without work. “The government is cutting the throat of its own industries, so how will employment rise?” the article said. “Government jobs are declining and the private sector’s speed of growth is also reducing.”