On NITI Aayog CEO's 'poverty at 5%' claim, Kharge rips into Modi govt

The recent release of the 'Household Consumption Expenditure' report has become the latest flashpoint between the Centre and the Opposition, with the Congress alleging data manipulation in the report

Congress President Mallilarjun Kharge, on Tuesday, slammed the Narendra Modi government over the recently published 'Household Consumption Expenditure' report, which he alleged was an "election-inspired" survey.

The report, released on February 24, claimed that the per capita monthly household consumption expenditure has more than doubled during the period 2011-12 to 2022-23. Conducted by the National Sample Survey Office, the report was based on data collected from 261,746 households (155,014 in rural areas and 106,732 in urban areas), the Centre said.

NITI Aayog CEO says poverty at 5 per cent

Based on the report, NITI Aayog CEO B V R Subrahmanyam said that poverty levels in India have reduced to 5 per cent. On this, Kharge alleged that the Modi government is making fun of the poor people. "NITI Aayog officials are now saying that according to these figures, poverty in India is now only 5 per cent, but according to another report of 'Multi-Dimensional Poverty Index' of the same NITI Aayog, the poverty figure is 11.28 per cent. Both surveys are for the same year, 2022-23. Why is the Modi government making fun of the poor?" he raised a series of questions in a post shared on social media platform 'X' (formerly Twitter).

Kharge said, "the Modi government has made an unsuccessful attempt to pat itself on the back in the survey." He questioned that if everything is so shiny in the country, why do the poorest 5 per cent of rural India "spend only Rs 46 per day?"

"All our questions are according to this Household Consumption Expenditure Survey. Modi ji, do dip everything, but do not dip the reputation of India's universal data collection and surveys earned over the years," Kharge said further.

Why do poorest 5 per cent families get Rs 68 per month, asks Kharge

"Why did the poorest 5 per cent of families get the least – only Rs 68/month from government schemes? Did only the capitalist friends get the remaining benefits? Why is the monthly income of farmers less than the average income of rural India?" Kharge asked.

He further asked, "Why did the expenditure on fuel for rural families decrease by only 1.5 per cent, while the Modi government keeps boasting of the success of the Ujjwala scheme?"

Centre attempting data manipulation, Kharge alleges

The Congress chief also alleged that this report is the Centre's attempt to hide the impact of inflation. "Experts are saying that the government can change the criteria for measuring Food Inflation (CPI) data from this survey. Is this not an attempt to hide back-breaking inflation with fake data? Is it not true that the Modi government admits in the PIB press release that the Advisory Committee — National Accounts Statistics rejected the suggestion of changing the base year of their GDP to 2017-18. Why so?" he asked.

Kharge also questioned whether the Modi government wants to take electoral advantage of the GDP Base Year and hide the real facts. "The surprising thing is that the nomination of this five-year Household Consumption Expenditure Survey should have been 69th Round or 70th Round, but in the name of this survey, which round is this, it has been deliberately disappeared. So that manipulation of data cannot be detected!"

Congress demands caste-based census

Towards the end of his charge, he reiterated the Congress' demand for a census and the inclusion of caste data in it. "The Congress party will definitely get it done as soon as the government of India is formed," he assured.