Trinamool Congress MP Derek O'Brien on Thursday hurled a series of 'fact bombs' at Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticising various central schemes and pointing at his failure.

"The two-month claim settlement deadline has long passed, but dues still remain unpaid," O'Brien tweeted.

Criticising the Bharatiya Janata Party government for the poor show on job creation, the Trinamool leader said: "Where are the jobs? 11 million Indians lost their jobs during 2018, as per a CMIE study.

"India's unemployment rate at a 15-month high of 7.4 per cent in December 2018," he said, adding that "Modi failed to deliver, yet again".

His next fact bomb was targeted at the 'Startup India' scheme. "StartupIndia is failing India! In the first 30 months since its launch, only four per cent of startups recognised by the government were certified for tax exemption under the scheme," said the Trinamool spokesperson.

The Rajya Sabha member also pointed out that the government spent more money on publicity for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao, as compared to the funds allocated to the beneficiaries.

"For BJP, Public Relations is greater than governance. 56 per cent funds under Beti Bachao Beti Padhao were used for publicity, 19 per cent fund weren't released at all and less than 25 per cent reached districts," he said.

Echoing his party supremo and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, who had criticised the Prime Minister a day back saying all his development works were for "publicity", O'Brien highlighted the advertisement expenditure of the Modi government.

"RTI: Money spent by Modi government on advertising since 2014: Rs 5,000 crore v/s Money spent on: Swachch Bharat (urban): Rs 2,223 crore; Smart Cities Mission: Rs 183 crore; Funds for Beti Bachao Beti Padhao: Rs 291 crore. What is BJP's priority: Governance or PR," he said.

--IANS

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