New Delhi, Jan 18 (FN Agency) Terming the NITI Aayog’s findings as completely false, the Congress asked that if the poverty level has come down to 11.7%, then why is the Narendra Modi government distributing free ration to 80 crore people of the country. Addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters here on Thursday, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said, “If the poverty level has come down to 11.7% which show that 15 crore people are poor then why is government providing free ration to 80 crore people?” She said, “The government claims to have lifted 24.82 crore people from poverty level but the reality is that it is a big conspiracy against the poor of the country”. The Congress leader also questioned that if the poverty has come down then why is consumption not decreasing?
Accusing the claim of the government contrary to the ground reality, Supriya Shrinate said that why no third party or agencies like World Bank, IMF or any other have not accepted this claim.She also questioned the criteria set for the survey and asked who were the people surveyed and what was the sample size. Adding that the NITI Aayog report was prepared in a closed A/C room consulting just three or four people. During the UPA regime, 27 crore people were lifted from the poverty level, but Congress never claimed and publicised it, she added. Earlier this week, the NITI Aayog said that 24.82 crore people escaped multidimensional poverty in last nine years. And India has registered a significant decline in poverty from 29.17% in 2013-14 to 11.28% in 2022-23.