India behind on development: Kapil Sibal on population report

With India set to become the world's most populous nation, Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal on Thursday urged people to look at parameters such as GDP, unemployment and annual inflation as he pointed out that India was lagging behind its neighbour China on those counts.

Sibal, a former human resource development minister who often takes digs at the government, put out data on Twitter comparing India and China, to point out the gap between the two countries on key parameters of GDP and inflation.

India is set to become the world's most populous nation with 142.86 crore people, shows the latest UN data.

In a tweet, Sibal, an Independent MP, said, "India ahead of China: Population: India 1428 million, China 1425 million. Other indicators (2021), World Bank Data: GDP – China: USD 17.73 trillion, India : 3.18 trillion. Unemployment: China: 4.8%, India: 7.7%. Annual inflation (consumer prices): China: 1%, India: 5.1%. Think about it!"

The Congress on Wednesday had also jabbed the government over unemployment after UN data showed that the country was set to become the most populous nation.

Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate had said the population is increasing and India is becoming the youngest nation in the world, but where are the jobs for our youth.

"What used to be called demographic dividend can become a demographic disaster today, because our youth do not have employment and there is no talk of their employment," she had said.