No, the person’s average Income in India is not Rs 22 per Day

On January 19, 2024, I.P. Singh, a leader of the Samajwadi Party, shared a snippet from a newspaper. The cutting highlighted a statement by Prime Minister Modi, where he claimed that the government successfully lifted 25 crore people out of poverty in the past nine years. However, along with this I.P. Singh wrote, Prime Minister, you are telling that 25 crore people have come out of the poverty line. Give advertisements to at least 25 lakh people in newspapers in 800 districts so that the opposition gets information. Note-82 crore people are living on 5 kg government ration. Latest figures show that a person’s income is Rs 22 per day.

So, I.P. Singh claimed that a person’s income is Rs 22 per day which means according to him an average person earns 22 × 365 = Rs 8030 per annum.

Fact Check

During our investigation, we searched for the per capita income of India on Google and stumbled upon a revealing report by the Press Information Bureau (PIB). According to this enlightening document, India’s per capita income witnessed a substantial surge, marking an impressive growth of 35.12 percent. The figures tell a compelling story, with per capita income escalating from Rs. 72,805 in the fiscal year 2014-15 to an impressive Rs. 98,374 by 2022-23.

Continuing our investigation, we stumbled upon yet another insightful report, this time by India Briefing, dated March 7, 2023. Remarkably, this report echoed our previous findings, reinforcing the impressive trajectory of India’s per capita income. According to India Briefing, the nation’s per capita income experienced a remarkable upswing of approximately 35 percent, ascending from INR 72,805 in the fiscal year 2014-15 to a noteworthy INR 98,118 by 2022-23.

Given the consistent growth rate of around 7% for India in both 2022 and 2023, it appears that the financial landscape, including the average person’s pay, has remained relatively stable. Consequently, the average person’s pay in India is likely to remain more or less the same, standing at Rs. 98,374 annually, or possibly experiencing a slight increase because of the growing economy.

Now, if we break down the annual per capita income of Rs. 98,372 for an individual in India, it translates to a daily income of approximately Rs. 270. This revelation stands in stark contrast to the assertion made by I.P. Singh, who claimed an individual’s daily earnings to be Rs. 22. In fact, the actual daily income is approximately 12 times higher than what I.P Singh suggested.

Apart from this, it’s crucial to address I.P. Singh’s claim that 82 crore people in India are relying on a 5 kg government ration, which, upon closer examination, appears to be somewhat misleading. The provision of free ration to a significant portion of the population doesn’t necessarily imply an inability to afford it. Drawing a parallel, in the United States, around 90% of students attend public schools, which offer free education from kindergarten through twelfth grade. This widespread access, however, doesn’t mean Americans can’t afford private education for their children.

The point of consideration here is that governments across countries, including India and the United States, often provide certain basic necessities for free—whether it’s food, medical check-ups, or education—as a form of societal support. This can be viewed as a reciprocal gesture from the government to its citizens in acknowledgment of the taxes collected throughout the year.

Hence, all these points prove that I.P. Singh’s claims of an average daily income of Rs 22 and 82 crore people surviving on 5 kg government ration in India are misleading. With the annual per capita income at approximately Rs. 98,372, the daily income stands closer to Rs. 270.