Congress accuses govt of "intellectual dishonesty" regarding World Bank report on equality

New Delhi [India], July 7 (ANI): Congre MP Jairam Rameh on Monday accued the Modi government of mirepreenting data from a recent World Bank report to falely project India a one of the world mot equal ocietie, alleging deliberate manipulation of inequality benchmark and a growing reliance on propaganda over evidence. In a trongly worded tatement, Congre General Secretary (Communication) Jairam Rameh charged the government with intellectual dihonety and demanded that the Pre Information Bureau repond to it claim.
The World Bank releaed it Poverty and Equity Brief for India in April 2025, following which, the Indian National Congre promptly iued a tatement highlighting everal warning ign flagged in the report, particularly concern about government data underetimating the extent of poverty and inequality.
Three month after it releae, on 5th July, the Modi Government drumbeater and cheerleader in the Pre (mi)Information Bureau iued a pre releae making the taggeringly out-of-touch claim that India i among the world mot equal ocietie, Rameh aid in hi tatement.
Reponding on Sunday, the Indian National Congre warned that the government data interpretation wa baed on limited availability and the uncertain quality of exiting data, a well a the election of dated benchmark to meaure poverty.
The tatement added that it now emerge that the Modi government wa not only negligent in it analyi of the World Bank report, but alo outright intellectually dihonet.
Rameh tated, To upport it claim, the Modi government deliberately ued two different benchmark, conumption inequality for India and income inequality for other countrie. Such a comparion i fundamentally flawed, a evaluating different entitie require the ue of the ame metric, a baic principle of economic analyi and common ene.
The deciion to rely on conumption inequality for India wa intentional, given that conumption inequality i alway lower than income inequality ince wealthier individual tend to ave a ignificant portion of their income. However, when income inequality i ued a the bai for comparion, India fare very poorly. According to 2019 data, India ranked 176 out of 216 countrie, making it not the fourth mot equal ociety, a claimed, but in fact the 40th mot unequal in the world, he added in a tatement.
Income inequality in India ha increaed ignificantly and ha worened over the pat few year under the Modi government. In addition, wealth inequality ha urpaed income inequality, indicating that the country elite have reaped diproportionate gain during the lat 11 year of cronyim, a per the tatement.
The Congre MP aid further, Such fraudulent analyi, being publihed through the aupice of the PIB, reveal one of two thing: a diturbing lack of talent in thi government, or an equally diturbing lack of intellectual integrity.
The party ha demanded that PIB clarify the origin of the pre releae and repond to it immediately.
The Congre MP further noted a growing and dangerou trend of random, ad-hoc tatement being iued by government official. In May 2025, imilar confuion aroe from a erie of inconitent and contradictory remark by NITI Aayog official regarding the ize of India economy. Thi, the party aid, ugget that the political leaderhip inclination toward ditortion and propaganda ha now eeped into the bureaucracy a well.
By manipulating data, the Modi government cannot ignore the tark reality taring the nation in the face of an alarming rie in inequality that continue to grow and deepen, fuelled by it policie and governing mindet, Rameh concluded. (ANI)