New Delhi: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra claimed on Monday that the unemployment rate in the country is the highest in 40 years now and that recent student protests were the result of a combination of a "failed education system" and "no job creation" in the last 12 years.

The Congress general secretary also claimed that certain government policies are crippling the agricultural sector alongside small businesses, which are key job providers.

"The unemployment rates in the country are the highest in 40 years. It is already a public fact. It is very clear that there is a lot of unrest, disappointment and frustration amongst the youth. We have seen that in the student protests. It is a combination of a failed education system and no job creations in the last 12 years," Priyanka Gandhi told reporters in the Parliament House complex.

She was replying to a question on a recent Niti Aayog report, which has said an estimated 8.7 crore people aged between 15 and 29 in India are not studying, working or receiving any kind of training. The report has highlighted the urgent need for subsidised training programmes to encourage self-employment and align with local demands and emerging sectors.

The member of Parliament from Kerala's Wayanad also claimed that there has been no emphasis on manufacturing and micro, small and medium enterprises ((MSMEs), and certain policies are crippling small businesses, which are job providers, and even the farm sector.

"It is something that we have been raising for a while," she said.

In the report titled "Reimagining Skilling for Viksit Bharat@2047", the Niti Aayog has said its estimates are based on data from the 78th round of the National Sample Survey conducted in 2021.

To ensure the highest impact, the Niti Aayog had organised the country's workforce landscape and learners into five segments -- schooling; tertiary education; formal and informal work; not in education, employment and training (NEET) youth; and women.

"NEET youth are constrained by the absence of income and the sunk cost of prior education. Students often cannot layer paid skilling onto existing financial commitments," it has said in the report.

The Niti Aayog has defined NEET youth as youngsters comprising individuals between the ages of 15 and 29 who are not engaged in education, employment or training, as well as those who are unemployed.