Narendra Modi plans to increase job quotas for upper-caste Hindus, shoring up his base before election

India’s ruling party, which promised to create 10 million jobs a year, looks a little nervous as it heads toward re-election.

With national polls just months away, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is pledging to extend a 10 per cent quota for government jobs and higher education places to groups including upper-caste Hindus, who form the backbone of his support base.

The move, which requires a constitutional amendment, would extend a measure designed to correct historic discrimination among so-called lower castes to people who earn as much as US$11,500 per year – roughly six times India’s per capita income of about US$1,950.

The announcement was made following a number of setbacks for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the vote due by May. Stocks swung on Monday after the government estimated economic growth may be slower than forecast. While Modi’s administration claims payroll data shows the creation and formalisation of millions of jobs, private sector research suggests India is experiencing jobless growth and failing to create secure, high-quality employment. His effort to promise state jobs is a clear sign Modi is nervous about the upcoming general election, analysts say.

“These moves speak to India’s broader employment problem,” as well as the government’s “concern about its prospects in this year’s general election,” said Sasha Riser-Kositsky, a senior analyst with Eurasia Group. Upper caste groups have pushed for quota reservations “only because they perceive a lack of opportunity elsewhere”.

The new policy grants benefits to communities long ignored by the opposition Congress party, which has ruled India for most of its independent history, BJP lawmaker and spokesman G.V.L. Narasimha Rao said. Modi’s government continues to create millions of new employment opportunities, he added.