The Indian Economy Is a Myth: Exposing the Progress Illusion

In September 2024, Indian Defense Minister Rajnath Singh said at an election gathering that India could have given Pakistan more money than the IMF loan if relations between the two countries were better. The statement that this is meant to show how strong India’s economy is not at all like what is happening in the country. An important point that millions of Indians are still having trouble with their economy and infrastructure is that the claim is just a smoke screen.

The Shocking Truth About India’s People

India has 1.45 billion people, making it the most populated country in the world in 2024. Even though there are so many people who could work, the country has deep-seated poverty and injustice. A little more than 83 million people live on less than $2.15 a day, which is considered poor. 163 million Indians also live in multidimensional poverty, which means they don’t have access to basic health care, schooling or living standards. These numbers show how hard life is for millions of people, which is very different from the picture of economic success that the government often paints.

Also, about 1.8 million Indians don’t have a home and about 100 million live in slums, where they have to deal with awful conditions. Surprisingly, 210 million people, or 15% of the population, still don’t have access to toilets and other basic sanitation services. These numbers make me very suspicious about India’s goals and the power of its economic policies to fight poverty and inequality.

Putting poverty behind walls

People living in slums were kept out of sight during former US President Donald Trump’s visit to India in February 2020 by raising big walls. This act showed that the Indian government always hides the harsh facts about poverty and unfairness. The issues were not dealt with at their source so that the country could keep up its image as a growing world power. India keeps going in this direction while trying to look strong and working to provide its people with basic needs.

Increasing crimes against women

India has a lot more social problems than just being poor and cruel. Women are being hurt more and more, which is a very scary fact. Every day in 2024, 86 women were raped, up from 80 every day in 2023. This shows that women are not as safe as men. This trend shows that the government can’t protect basic human rights for people who are already in danger.

The National AIDS Control Organization (NACO) also says that there are more than 800,000 sex workers in India right now. These numbers show that there is a lot of poverty and not enough social welfare and support services to help marginalized groups get back on their feet.

Wrong Priorities and Budget Allocation

In 2024, India’s foreign reserves were $689.5 billion, which is a large amount that could have been used to deal with important problems in India, such as poverty, schooling, and health care.

The Indian government plans to spend more on defense than social welfare. The fiscal year 2024-25 defense budget was $74.3 billion, 15% of government spending. However, infrastructure and benefits receive only 5.5% of GDP, which is insufficient to address the nation’s major social and economic issues.

Militarization is a focus, yet millions of Indians lack shelter, good water and jobs. The government’s defense spending has skyrocketed, causing an arms race in South Asia and militarizing the region while people’s basic necessities go unmet.

Lack of Jobs and Desperation

The fact that more and more Indians are desperate to find work abroad shows how bad the country’s economy really is. In the past few months, long lines of Indians have formed as they rush to find work in Israel, where they are being considered to replace Palestinian workers while the war continues. Many of these people who want to work say that the risks to their safety in Israel are better than going hungry and not having a job at home. This event shows how bad India’s job market really is, since even the weakest people are willing to risk their lives to find economic security abroad.

The large number of Indian workers going to Israel also shows the real state of India’s economy, which has been hidden by the government lead by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by a false story of economic progress. In fact, the government has not done enough to create jobs for its own people and millions of them are still having trouble making ends meet.

India’s nuclear ambitions

It is becoming increasingly difficult to ignore India’s own issues, despite the fact that it provides the image that it is powerful and in control throughout the region. Things are made much more difficult for the nation as a result of the significant investments made by the government in the development of its nuclear arsenal and the beginning of an arms race in South Asia. This military costs a lot and takes money and time away from important things like education, healthcare and building up infrastructure.

India’s focus on military power, which includes killings that don’t follow the law and crossing international borders, is very different from its inability to help millions of poor people get out of poverty. A lot of the country’s people don’t have access to basic services because the government is focused on nuclear and defense powers. This shows how deeply rooted the country’s problems are.

The False Claims of Rajnath Singh

Rajnath Singh’s claim that India could help Pakistan with money doesn’t make sense when you look at these problems in India. As a country that still has problems with poverty, injustice and social unrest, how can India help other countries when it can’t solve its own problems?

There are major concerns about the country’s real economic priorities when the government fails to provide basic services to millions of its citizens and spends a lot on defense. India spends a lot of money on border battles and expanding its military, but millions of its people still don’t have enough housing, clean water or jobs.

The False Hope of Progress

India’s leaders keep putting out a picture of strength and growth, but for millions of its people, things are very different. The country’s economic problems have deep roots in the government’s wrong goals. Focusing on militarization and making hollow claims of regional hegemony by the BJP government has meant that basic needs of the people have not been met.

India risks leaving a big part of its people poor and without resources as it continues to build up its nuclear arsenal and make regional conflicts worse. The government’s story of economic progress is just a smoke screen to hide the harsh truths that millions of Indians are facing every day.

Conclusion

India’s economy is not at all the shining example of success that its leaders say it is. Instead, it is tainted by poverty, social unrest and deep-seated inequality. Focusing on defense and military has taken the government’s attention away from the basic needs of its people, leaving millions without access to essential services like housing, sanitation and healthcare.

Rajnath Singh’s claim shows that India’s leaders are still trying to show the world that they are strong, even though their own people are struggling to stay alive. India can’t even help its own people get out of poverty, so how can it give money to other countries? The answer is to reveal the mirage of progress that the BJP government has carefully created. But matter of the fact is that the hollow claims of
Modi-led government about Indian economy, safety and security of its nuclear arsenal, a shining India and welfare of its own people are not more than a daydream aimed at deceiving its own people to hide the real state of the Indian economy and internal conflicts for vested interests.