Parameter 05 / POVERTY & WELFARE
DID THE GOVERNMENT MAKE INDIANS LESS POOR,
OR MORE DEPENDENT ON WELFARE?
Multidimensional poverty, direct benefit transfers, free rations and the line between a floor and a ceiling.
The government’s case
Multidimensional poverty has fallen steeply, direct benefit transfers cut leakage by paying beneficiaries directly, and housing, toilets, cooking gas, water and bank accounts reached hundreds of millions of households that previously had none.
The opposition’s case
That over 800 million citizens still require free grain is itself evidence of fragile incomes. Critics argue welfare has substituted for wage growth and quality employment, and that headline poverty measures rely on assumptions the underlying consumption data does not settle.
Your grade
How would you score the government on poverty & welfare?
Grade
D
WEAK
Move the slider to record your score
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