Congress Challenges Government's Equality Claims as Misleading

New Delhi, Jul 7 (PTI) - The Congress has criticized the government's statement that positions India among the world's most equal countries as "fraudulent" and "intellectually dishonest." The opposition party claims that the Modi government is attempting to overlook the reality of expanding inequalities by allegedly "doctoring data." The controversy follows an official release that cited World Bank data, asserting a significant reduction in inequality in India between 2011-12 and 2022-23, positioning it as the fourth-most equal country globally.

The Congress has demanded that the Press Information Bureau (PIB) provide clarification regarding the origin of this press release and retract it immediately. In a statement, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, pointed out discrepancies in the government's interpretation of the World Bank's Poverty and Equity Brief for India, released in April 2025. Ramesh emphasized that although the Congress had identified warning signs in the World Bank report related to poverty and inequality, the government issued a contradictory press release on July 5, claiming India's equal status.

On July 6, the Congress reiterated its concern regarding the government's interpretation of data, highlighting the limited availability and uncertain quality of the existing figures, along with the use of outdated benchmarks to measure poverty. Ramesh accused the government of negligence and "intellectual dishonesty" by deliberately using different benchmarks to compare consumption inequality in India with income inequality in other countries.

According to Ramesh, comparing two entities requires a consistent metric. Elaborating further, he stated that the choice to measure consumption inequality, which is typically less than income inequality, was deliberate on the part of the government. Highlighting grim figures, he noted that India ranks 176th out of 216 countries in income equality, indicating it is the 40th most unequal society globally. He further accused the government of exacerbating income inequality during its tenure.

June inequality and the gains of the elite over the past eleven years reflect this. The Congress has charged the government with presenting "fraudulent analysis" through the PIB, suggesting either incompetence or a lack of intellectual integrity. Ramesh called for the PIB to clarify and retract the press release.

The Congress also mentioned inconsistencies in prior government statements, citing similar occurrences with NITI Aayog officials regarding India's economic size in May 2025. Ramesh contended that such fabrications are employed to obscure the reality of escalating inequalities in India.

The government's release attributed the reported reduction in inequality to various initiatives over the last decade, claiming that India's Gini Index positioned it as the fourth most equal country after the Slovak Republic, Slovenia, and Belarus. Nevertheless, the Congress had previously voiced concerns over a World Bank report indicating persisting high levels of poverty and inequality in India, urging reforms in GST and an end to corporate favoritism.

Ramesh claimed India cannot justify its status as one of the most equal societies globally with a poverty rate of 28.1 percent, urging a reconsideration of the congratulations stemming from the reported data.