Modi claimed that 4.25 crore first-timers got loans but he clarified that there is no job data. Then why give the number of first-timer loanees? Obviously, he wants to imply that they are fresh entrants. But just because somebody takes a loan for the first time, it doesn’t mean that he/she was starting to work for the first time! He/she could have been doing some other work earlier. In fact, Mudra loans do not indicate any job creation in itself. The amounts per loanee are also too meagre to imagine this. According to the most recent data on January 25 (Rajya Sabha Question No. 170 and 189), a total of 15.59 crore persons have been given loans worth Rs. 2.75 lakh crore. Which works out to a mere Rs.17,582 per loanee. What can be expected to happen with this amount! Besides these myths, the Prime Minister also referred to assorted “job creating” phenomena like cab aggregators and common service centres. Again, the question is – are these people getting jobs for the first time?