Congress Slams Modi Government’s Claims On Poverty Alleviation
New Delhi, January 18: The Congress today slammed the claims of the Modi government that about 25 crore people in the country had been lifted out of poverty. The party asked, if such a huge number of people have really come out of poverty, why has the consumption not increased, which in fact has decreased since last year. Private consumption growth has slowed down to 4.4% this fiscal vs 7.1% last fiscal.
Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here today, party spokesperson and Chairperson of the Social Media and Digital Platforms, Supriya Shrinate apprehended that this might be a conspiracy to deny the poor the safety net provided by the government to them.
Referring to the Modi government’s claims about NITI Aayog having said that 24.82 crore people had been brought out of poverty, she asked, why are these people not consuming daily essential items like soap, shampoo. Oil and biscuits. Why are companies like HUL, ITC and Britannia reported muted sales. Why does the government still need to provide free food to 80 crore Indians.
She said that the NITI Aayog report had not been endorsed by any third party like the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund. She pointed out, it was all done by the NITI Aayog including the survey, the preparation of the report and its circulation for Modi and his followers to make huge claims. We don’t know the sample size, who was surveyed u like UPA when we lifted 27 crore people out of poverty, it was accepted by World Bank based on a third party’s report.
The Congress spokesperson argued that the ground reality is quite contrary to what the government has claimed. She pointed out, the consumption rate had come down from 7.1 percent during last year to 4.4 percent this year. She observed, if people are less poor they should be spending more, but that is not happening as consumption rates have come down substantially.
Shrinate also disclosed that the NITI Aayog had changed the established criteria for assessing and calculating poverty. Giving examples, she said, one of the criteria was whether the family has a toilet or not irrespective of the fact whether the family has food to eat or not.
Similarly, she added, another criterion is that in case five households in a village have electricity connection, the entire village would be deemed as electrified and not poor. She pointed out, during the UPA regime 27 crore people were brought out of poverty. She said, this was endorsed by the World Bank, unlike the claims of the BJP government, which has been done by NITI Aayog while sitting in its echo chamber.
The Congress spokesperson raised serious concerns of a conspiracy being hatched against the poor by the Modi government.
She observed that there is an apprehension that this is a conspiracy by the government to bring these 25 crore people out of the safety net of the government and deny them the relief and assistance they are supposed to get in a welfare state.
