Modi Govt Showing Colorful Dreams of Economy, In Reality Poverty and Number of Poor are Increasing

From time to time, international financial institutions like the IMF and World Bank also join in praising the Modi government's economy. Amid all these dreams, the number of billionaires and millionaires in the country is increasing, while on the other hand, the number of poor people and poverty is also rising.

In March 2023, it was propagated at the government level that per capita income in the country had nearly doubled between 2014-2015 and 2022-2023. The very next year, in 2024, the boastful Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman announced that within the next five years, per capita income would double again, leading to an unprecedented leap in the standard of living of the general population.

These sounds very appealing, and the media promotes them too—but they are far from reality. Even if these claims are taken, the reality is that after per capita income supposedly doubled, the government still has to provide 5 kilos of free food grains to keep over 800 million (80 crore) people alive, whereas when the income was half, such a need did not exist.

On the other hand, even when per capita income doubles again in the next five years, over 800 million people will still require free food grains. The question arises: who is benefiting from this doubling of income? Certainly not the over 800 million people—this is something the government itself is revealing.

According to experts, the government’s claims about per capita income are nothing but an illusion, a mere slogan. The claim of per capita income doubling between 2014 and 2022 completely ignored the depreciation of the rupee against the dollar and the skyrocketing inflation rate.

Experts say that during this entire period, the real increase in per capita income was only about 35 percent, and even this growth was limited to the richest 10 percent of the population. Recently, the Knight Frank Global Wealth Report was published, stating that in our country, in dollar terms, there are 191 billionaires and 85,698 millionaires.

The number of billionaires has increased by 12 percent compared to 2023, with 26 individuals joining the billionaire list for the first time. The combined wealth of India’s billionaires is approximately $950 billion, which is about 25 percent of the country’s total GDP, concentrated in the hands of just 191 people. Globally, the number of millionaires has grown by 4.4 percent, but in our country—where over 800 million people survive on free rations—the growth rate is 6 percent. Out of all the millionaires in the world, 3.7 percent are in our country, and it is estimated that by 2028, their number will rise to 93,753. All these figures indicate that the wealthiest section of the population is consistently getting richer.

No one knows how many poor people there are in our country. Prime Minister Modi labels 810 million (81 crore) people as poor and distributes free food grains to them, while also claiming that 250 million (25 crore) of them are no longer poor and have moved into the middle class. Astonishingly, free food grains are still being provided to all 810 million people—meaning that in Modi’s “developed India,” the distinction between the middle class and the poor has vanished.

In February 2024, the outspoken CEO of NITI Aayog told the media that less than 5 percent of the country’s population is poor—implying that the number of poor is less than 70 million (7 crore). Amid these conflicting claims, a recent report by Bloom Ventures stated that about 1 billion (100 crore) people in the country lack the financial resources to purchase consumer goods—clearly suggesting that, according to this report, 1 billion people in the country are poor. In the last parliamentary session, Smt. Sonia Gandhi stated that due to the absence of a census, 160 million (16 crore) people in the country are not receiving free government rations despite being poor. Currently, 810 million people are receiving free rations—if we add the 160 million claimed by Sonia Gandhi, the number of poor reaches 970 million (97 crore), which is close to the 1 billion figure reported by Bloom Ventures.

Since 2021, over 810 million people have been receiving free food grains every month, and this will continue until 2028. These figures clearly show that the ruling power itself is not convinced of its claims of reducing the number of poor. In January 2024, the Prime Minister stated in the Lok Sabha that 250 million people had risen out of poverty and joined the middle class over the past nine years, yet they would continue to receive free food grains as before. This makes it clear that even the middle class is poor and needs 5 kilos of free food grains every month to survive.

The basis for Modi’s claim of lifting 250 million people out of poverty comes from a report published by NITI Aayog in January 2024. According to this report, in 2005-06, 55.34 percent of the country’s population was poor, but by 2013-14, this figure had dropped to 29.17 percent. This entire period was under Dr. Manmohan Singh’s government, and according to the report, 26.17 percent of the population escaped poverty between 2005 and 2014. By 2022-23, the poor population was down to 11.28 percent. Clearly, between 2014 and 2023—entirely under Narendra Modi’s rule—only 17.89 percent of the population, or 248.2 million (24.82 crore) people, crossed the poverty line. This period saw continuous claims of reducing poverty at an unprecedented pace in independent India’s history, but NITI Aayog’s own report disproves these claims.

The IMF has prepared a list of countries based on per capita income. In this list, Modi’s “developed” India, which boasts of being the fifth-largest economy, ranks 124th. The list is topped by Luxembourg, followed by Singapore, Macau, Ireland, Qatar, Norway, Switzerland, Brunei, Guyana, and the United States. Recently, Arvind Panagariya, Chairman of the 16th Finance Commission, stated that if India is to become a developed nation by 2047, per capita income must reach $14,000 over the next 24 years. This would require a sustained annual growth of 7.3 percent in per capita income and 7.9 percent in GDP. Given the current state of the country’s economy, such growth seems impossible.

Under the Modi government, obtaining facts and real data is difficult because no department or ministry publishes detailed reports. Even when institutions like NITI Aayog release some reports, the ruling power presents the data in its own way. In the Modi government, statistics related to the public are fabricated by the Prime Minister and other loudmouth ministers according to the time and situation, which is why the figures on the same topic differ in every speech. It is the media’s responsibility to scrutinize the data and facts presented by the government, but in our country, mainstream media has become a factory for propagating lies and slogans, steeped in devotion to the ruling power.