New Delhi [India], July 6 : Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Sunday accused the central government of misrepresenting the World Bank's Poverty and Equity Brief for India, stating that poverty and inequality remain "deeply troubling", with 28.1 per cent of Indians living in poverty.
He said government supporters are now trying to twist the data to claim that India is "one of the most equal societies," a claim he called "staggeringly out-of-touch."
In a post on X, Congress shared a paragraph from the letter, "The World Bank had released its Poverty and Equity Brief for India in April 2025. Three months after its release, the Modi Government's drumbeaters and cheerleaders have begun spinning the World Bank's data to make the staggeringly out-of-touch claim that India is among the world's most equal societies. In a statement issued on April 27th, 2025, we had highlighted some key concerns that the World Bank had raised in its Report. These concerns continue to be relevant, and any attempt to engage with the Report must grapple with them seriously."
Ramesh raised alarms over rising inequality in India, revealing that in 2023-24, the top 10 per cent of earners made 13 times more than the bottom 10 per cent.
He also warned that flaws in government data may be hiding the true extent of poverty and inequality, which could be worse if newer poverty benchmarks were used.
"Wage disparity in India is high, with the median earnings of the top 10% being 13 times higher than the bottom 10% in 2023-24. Moreover, "sampling and data limitations suggest that consumption inequality [as measured by Government data] may be underestimated." More updated data (adoption of purchasing power parity conversion factor from 2021 as compared to that of 2017) would result in a higher rate of extreme poverty," the letter further reads.
Ramesh stated that poverty and inequality in India remain deeply troubling, with a poverty rate of 28.1 per cent.
"Changes in the questionnaire design, survey implementation, and sampling in the Household Consumption Expenditure Survey 2022-23, "present challenges from making comparisons over time." It is worth recalling that these changes were many after the Government rejected the previous iteration of the survey (conducted in 2017-18) after it showed falling consumption in rural areas. As a lower-middle-income country, the appropriate rate to measure poverty in India is that of $3.65/day. By this measure, the poverty rate for India in 2022 is significantly higher at 28.1%," the letter further reads
He accused the government of using limited and unreliable data, along with selective benchmarks, to falsely claim that India is among the world's most equal societies.
"The report is therefore rather clear: poverty remains concerningly high, and so does inequality. The good news that the Modi Government is so desperately trying to wrangle out of this report is partly attributable to the limited availability and the uncertain quality of Government data, as well as to the selection of benchmarks to measure poverty. No country that has a poverty rate of 28.1% can make a justifiable claim to being one of the most equal societies in the world," the letter further reads.
In the letter, he also pointed out that millions of Indians are living just above the international poverty line, and warned that any shock, such as job loss or price rise, could push them back into poverty.
To protect these vulnerable groups, the party demanded stronger support for welfare schemes like MGNREGA and the National Food Security Act (NFSA), 2013.
"In our statement in April, we had also outlined several takeaways for Indian policymakers from the report. These also continue to remain relevant: The significant variance between differing poverty lines shows that large sections of the population are only marginally above the international extreme poverty line. Social welfare systems such as MGNREGA and the National Food Security Act 2013 cannot be abandoned but must be strengthened to ensure that they protect these segments from negative shocks. The INC's long-standing demand to increase MGNREGA wages, to conduct the decadal Population Census (now scheduled to occur in 2027), and include 10 crore additional persons in the ambit of the NFSA, finds new urgency based on these numbers," the letter reads.