Congress questions the Centre over the fall in wages and salaries in comparison to inflation, and says the government is indifferent to the challenges of the economy

Given the state assembly elections, Congress has once again targeted the Modi government, claiming that the challenging state of the economy has increased difficulties in the daily life of the common people. Citing the estimates and figures of some external financial agencies, the party said that the real domestic income of the people in the country has declined due to the backbreaking inflation amid extremely slow increases in salaries and wages.

The party alleged that the attitude of the central government regarding the fact of unprecedented decline in real income compared to inflation is like that of an "ostrich" and it is indifferent to the most basic challenges of the economy. After the success in keeping the issue of inflation and unemployment at the center of the electoral debate in the Lok Sabha elections, the party is continuously trying to surround the government aggressively on issues related to the public.

Wages decreased due to inflation - Jairam Ramesh

In a statement issued on Sunday, Congress Communication General Secretary Jairam Ramesh, citing a new report of a well-known brokerage firm, said that the real domestic income in India is continuously declining. Real wages have fallen significantly due to slow wage growth and backbreaking inflation. Several surveys and data - including the Annual Survey of Unregistered Industries, Reserve Bank's KLEMS, and Household Consumer Expenditure Survey - reflect the deepening financial crisis faced by the working class.

Jayaram said that the government's official data also clearly proves that the purchasing power of workers has decreased today compared to 10 years ago. The Labor Bureau's Wage Rate Index shows that the real wages of workers remained stagnant between 2014-2023 and declined between 2019-2024. According to the Congress General Secretary, it is clear from the data of the Agriculture Ministry that while the real wages of agricultural laborers increased at the rate of 6.8 percent every year during the tenure of the Manmohan government, the real wages of agricultural laborers declined by -1.3 percent every year under the Modi government.

Why has private investment remained sluggish?

Asking four questions to the Prime Minister and his ministers about these challenges of the economy, Jairam said that the government should explain why private investment remains sluggish and why the share of the private sector in overall investment has fallen to the lowest level in the last four years.

Secondly, why is consumption growth so weak and why did private final consumption expenditure grow only around 4 percent in FY 2024? The government should also explain why real wages are stagnant or why are they declining. Jairam said that the percentage share of the manufacturing sector in GDP has fallen from 16.5 percent during the UPA tenure to 14.5 percent today and the government should clarify its stand on why this decline is particularly sharp in labor-intensive manufacturing such as textiles.

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