The finance minister in the Union Budget 2024, after years of apathetic neglect and macroeconomic policy indifference meted to critical government voices, implicitly acknowledged the nature of structural gaps observed in India’s ‘jobless growth’ trajectory, which has continuously observed a higher output-employment gap, and a weakening trend in macro-labour productivity levels. The Narendra Modi government has remained more focused in countering critical voices or sending Directorate of Enforcement (ED) officials for ‘fear’ and ‘punishment’ than addressing the reasons that humbled the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the recent polls.