During the first 10 years, BJP had an absolute majority, but in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BJP was forced to form a coalition government with the support of several regional parties. The current BJP government has also completed one year. We are trying to review the 11-year economic performance of the government led by Mr. Narendra Modi. Just 2-3 years after BJP took charge of the government in 2014, India’s economy started declining continuously, all the important indicators of the economy – economic growth rate, growth rate in per capita income, unemployment rate, inflation rate, poverty situation etc., had come to low levels. For which no international policy or factor, but the government’s own policies are responsible. The central government has made many changes in economic policies in the last 11 years, breaking up the Planning Commission and forming the NITI Aayog, indiscriminate privatization of government institutions, monetary policy, fiscal policy, demonetization in 2016, Goods and Services Tax (GST) has been implemented in 2017.
The BJP government had maintained the good financial condition and economy inherited from the previous government during the financial year 2014-15, at that time the growth rate of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was 7.4 percent and the growth rate of per capita income was 6.2 percent. 3 months after the government took office, the historic sharp decline in the prices of crude oil and other petroleum products worldwide in August 2014 further strengthened the already good economic growth of India’s economy, as a result of which the GDP in the financial year 2016-17 The growth rate was 8.3 percent and the per capita income rate was 6.9 percent. But in the following years, the growth rate of the country’s gross domestic product and per capita income started decreasing.
It is also true that the per capita income of the country has doubled since 2014-15. Which was Rs. 86,647 in 2014-15 at current prices, which has now more than doubled to Rs. 2,05,579 in 2024-25. It is important to clarify here that these figures do not present a true picture according to the comparative study current prices, because it also includes inflation/inflation. In fact, this increase is not doubled in constant prices of 2011-12 but only about 54 percent, because the per capita income has increased from Rs 72,805 in constant prices of 2014-15 to Rs 1,33,488 in 2024-25. In this regard, the performance of the Modi government during the previous 10 years has not been good, because during the Congress Manmohan Singh government, this increase in 10 years was 157 percent at current prices, i.e., the per capita income had increased from Rs 33,717 in 2006-07 to Rs 86,647 in 2014-15.
The implementation of demonetization by the central government in November 2016 was a wrong and unnecessary decision, because due to demonetization, the common people had to face a lot of difficulties and this decision had caused a huge loss to the income and employment of many people in the country. This left the employees and owners of small and medium industries and unorganized sector enterprises in a state of disarray. After this, the government’s decision to implement GST in 2017 also caused a huge blow to small, medium and unorganized business enterprises. This decision shook the strong federal structure of the country and prevented the states from increasing their revenue by levying taxes. Now all the states of the country have to depend on the central government for every financial assistance.
Due to these economic changes, it became difficult for the common people in the country to earn a living, people lost their jobs, income decreased, poverty increased and food security was threatened, leading to a situation of hunger for many people. That is why now 81 crore people are being given free ration. Due to these policies, the per capita income in the country has decreased for the first time in the last 5 decades, as the per capita income rate has decreased by 0.2 percent annually between the financial years 2017-18 and 2021-22. Similarly, the real wages of those working in non-farm occupations have also decreased and since 2016-17, there has been a huge loss of 0.7 percent annually in real wages. Poverty data in the country is available only for 2011-12, while the data of the poverty survey conducted in 2017-18 was not disclosed by the government due to alleged technical glitches.
However, claims are being made to lift 25 crore people out of poverty in the last ten years. According to the data released by the World Bank, the poverty rate in the country has come down from 27 percent to 5 percent. Actually, these figures are based on the international poverty line of $3 (Rs. 60 in India) per day, meaning that a person spends all kinds of money on food, accommodation, health expenses, education, etc. daily. The international poverty line, which was $2.1 in 2011-12, was revised to $3 in 2022-23 and about 27 crore people in the country have come out of extreme poverty in 11 years. But the truth is, we all know how a person’s daily expenses work these days on Rs. 60. If the international poverty line is raised slightly, the situation changes completely. If the international poverty line is raised to $4.2, i.e. Rs. 84 per day, the poverty rate in the country will increase from 5 percent to 24 percent (Deepa Sinha, ‘The Wire’ June 2025). Similarly, the government has put the 2021 census on hold. The surveys or research papers published by some people and organizations in the past regarding measuring poverty have no credibility.
The government has implemented all the economic and social welfare schemes – Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Jeevan Jyoti Bima Yojana
No, Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana, Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Make in India, a scheme to provide employment to two crore people every year, houses for the poor, cooking gas, public toilets have been started. Although all these schemes were started with great enthusiasm, most of them died midway, the benefit of these schemes has gone to corporate houses instead of the needy.
If we talk about all types of inflation that have been increasing in the country for the last few years, it is found that today the retail and wholesale inflation rates are continuously increasing and are at the highest level in 11 years. The majority of the people of the country are poor, who are suffering the most from inflation. In the past years, the prices of petroleum products, edible oils, food items and other essential commodities have increased unimaginably. The real reason for the increase in inflation is improper manipulation of government policies, giving free rein to corporate houses to make profits, and apart from a small contribution from international factors. In fact, the government is following policies that benefit corporate houses, which is why the number of billionaires in India is constantly increasing. Whereas, it should have been that the government would have made pro-people changes in policies and provided employment to the common people, so that the income of the people would have increased and the common man would have got relief from inflation. Due to this, a large section of the country’s population has been pushed into abject poverty and has reached the brink of starvation.
