New Delhi [India], July 7 : Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Monday accused the Modi government of misrepresenting data from a recent World Bank report to falsely project India as one of the world's most equal societies, alleging deliberate manipulation of inequality benchmarks and a growing reliance on propaganda over evidence. In a strongly worded statement, Congress General Secretary (Communications) Jairam Ramesh charged the government with "intellectual dishonesty" and demanded that the Press Information Bureau respond to its claims.
The World Bank released its Poverty and Equity Brief for India in April 2025, following which, the Indian National Congress promptly issued a statement highlighting several warning signs flagged in the report, particularly concerns about government data underestimating the extent of poverty and inequality.
"Three months after its release, on 5th July, the Modi Government's drumbeaters and cheerleaders in the Press (mis)Information Bureau issued a press release making the staggeringly out-of-touch claim that India is among the world's most equal societies," Ramesh said in his statement.
Responding on Sunday, the Indian National Congress warned that the government's data interpretation was based on "limited availability and the uncertain quality of existing data, as well as the selection of dated benchmarks to measure poverty."
The statement added that it now emerges that the Modi government was not only negligent in its analysis of the World Bank report, but also outright "intellectually dishonest."
Ramesh stated, "To support its claim, the Modi government deliberately used two different benchmarks, 'consumption inequality' for India and 'income inequality' for other countries. Such a comparison is fundamentally flawed, as evaluating different entities requires the use of the same metric, a basic principle of economic analysis and common sense."
"The decision to rely on consumption inequality for India was intentional, given that consumption inequality is always lower than income inequality since wealthier individuals tend to save a significant portion of their income. However, when income inequality is used as the basis for comparison, India fares very poorly. According to 2019 data, India ranked 176 out of 216 countries, making it not the fourth most equal society, as claimed, but in fact the 40th most unequal in the world," he added in a statement.
Income inequality in India has increased significantly and has worsened over the past few years under the Modi government. In addition, wealth inequality has surpassed income inequality, indicating that the country's elite have reaped disproportionate gains during the last 11 years of cronyism, as per the statement.
The Congress MP said further, "Such fraudulent analysis, being published through the auspices of the PIB, reveals one of two things: a disturbing lack of talent in this government, or an equally disturbing lack of intellectual integrity."
The party has demanded that PIB clarify the origin of the press release and respond to it immediately.
The Congress MP further noted a growing and dangerous trend of random, ad-hoc statements being issued by government officials. In May 2025, similar confusion arose from a series of inconsistent and contradictory remarks by NITI Aayog officials regarding the size of India's economy. This, the party said, suggests that the political leadership's inclination toward distortion and propaganda has now seeped into the bureaucracy as well.
By manipulating data, the Modi government cannot ignore the stark reality staring the nation in the face of an alarming rise in inequality that continues to grow and deepen, fuelled by its policies and governing mindset, Ramesh concluded.