Speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) annual conference, Sonia said, "It is not an occasion to score political points. Congress will give support to the government if broad national consensus is reached on legislative changes for boosting investment and restoring business confidence." The Congress supremo, however, did not miss the opportunity to score a political point in her first address to industrialists. Hinting at the instability of the ruling coalition, she said the task of mobilising educated unemployed in mission oriented projects "may fall on us sooner than later".

Sonia also criticised the ruling coalition for propagating that the Indian economy had a jobless growth under Congress rule. "This is not true. Nearly 70 lakh jobs were generated every year during 1991-96", she said.

She saw a ray ofhope in the "pessimism over growth". The changed perception of industrialists of not being satisfied with five per cent economic growth would lead to further growth, she felt.

Outlining a six-pronged Congress philosophy for equitable growth, Sonia said sustained economic growth of 7 to 8 per cent on the strength of agriculture, industry and service sector was the key to abolish poverty and create employment. Emphasising on the linkage between education and employment, she called upon the industry to contribute to technical and vocational training and said growing proportion of educated unemployed was a disturbing aspect. She called for a national policy on education to make it more employment oriented and said that allocation for education should be increased from 3.8 per cent of gross domestic product to six per cent by the turn of the century.