Share of middle class in national income at pre-colonial level: Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on 26 March, Wednesday, attacked the Modi government over growing income inequality and alleged that the share of the middle class in the national income is back to pre-colonial levels.

"In the last 78 years, no government has weakened the common people economically as much as the Modi government has oppressed them.

"Economic inequality is at a frightening level. Billionaires have become trillionaires and the poor are turning paupers. The status of middle-class incomes today is what it was before the British Raj, in 1820," he said in a post in Hindi on X.

The Congress chief said that International Labour Organisation (ILO) data shows that even if anyone has an advanced degree or holds a skilled job, one is still paid the seventh-lowest wages in the world.

"Wage growth rate is projected to slow down from 9.3 per cent in 2006 to 0.1 percent in 2023. The average hourly earnings of an Indian worker are the fifth lowest in the world.

"Due to the burden of taxes, inflation and economic mismanagement... The middle class, the poor and the neglected are shrinking, and the Modi government is going around shouting 'Sabka sath, sabka vikas [development for all, with all]'," Kharge also said in his post.

He also shared a graph with his post showing the share of the poorest one-third reducing from 10.8 per cent in 1820 to 6.4 per cent in 2023 — and the middle one-third declining from 15 per cent in 1820 to 14.9 per cent in 2023.

On the other hand, the graph showed the growing share of the richest one-third in national income, at 77.8 per cent in 2023, against 73.2 per cent in 1820.