Guwahati: The Congress on Wednesday raised concerns over widening economic inequality in India, urging the Centre to address household financial distress, generate more employment opportunities and take effective steps to control inflation.
Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said economic growth could not be considered meaningful unless its benefits reached ordinary citizens. He argued that headline gross domestic product (GDP) figures did not adequately reflect the growing economic divide between wealthy sections of society and the common people.
Sharing a media report on X, Ramesh drew attention to the decline in net household financial savings to Rs 21.69 lakh crore in the 2025-26 financial year, compared with Rs 22.57 lakh crore in the previous fiscal year. The report attributed the fall to household borrowing increasing at a faster rate than the accumulation of financial assets, despite investments in bank deposits, mutual funds and other instruments.
In a post, Ramesh alleged that rising prices, increasing household debt and declining earnings had placed the middle class under growing financial pressure during the Modi government’s tenure.
He also accused the Centre of manipulating data to understate the extent of inflation, claiming that young people were facing the consequences of slowing economic activity and fewer employment opportunities.
Pointing to hiring trends, Ramesh said companies were recruiting fewer workers, while some employees were losing jobs they had held for years. He further claimed that inflation was eroding household incomes and savings, forcing families to borrow more to meet their daily expenses.
According to Ramesh, wages had stagnated or declined in real terms after accounting for inflation, even as corporate profits and the wealth of affluent sections continued to rise.
He said mounting pressure on household budgets was compelling families to use their savings to cover routine expenses. The situation, he added, had left middle-class and poorer households increasingly uncertain about their financial future.
“Modi-ji, growing economic inequality is one of the nation’s most pressing concerns, yet you are fuelling it,” Ramesh said, criticising the government’s economic policies.
He maintained that GDP growth figures alone could not establish whether economic progress was improving people’s lives or distributing its benefits more widely.
“Claims of economic development are meaningful only when their benefits reach the common man; otherwise, these statistics tell a story not of progress, but of a widening economic divide,” he said.
The Congress has repeatedly criticised the Centre over inflation and what it describes as policies that place an unfair burden on ordinary households. The government, however, has rejected opposition criticism and cited India’s economic growth figures as evidence of the country’s economic performance.