'Pakodas for masses, halwa for chosen few': Congress slams Modi govt as ILO report flags wage inequality

Citing the report, Congress's Jairam Ramesh said the top 10 percentile of India's income-earners earn 6.8 times more than the bottom 10 percentile.

New Delhi: The Congress on Friday slammed the government over an International Labour Organisation report pointing to wage inequality in India, claiming this is a direct consequence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "pakoda-nomics" which is about 'pakodas' for the masses and 'halwa' for the chosen few.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the International Labour Organisation's just released Global Wage Report 2024-2025 has some concerning findings about wage inequality in India.

Citing the report, he said the top 10 percentile of India's income-earners earn 6.8 times more than the bottom 10 percentile.

"This is significantly more unequal than nearly every country in our neighourhood, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar," Ramesh said in a post on X.

He further cited the report to state that India has one of the lowest share of wage-workers among all lower-middle-income countries. Most workers are engaged in self-employment which is typically informal, low-paying, and highly prone to volatility, Ramesh said.

"Remember this is a direct consequence of the pakoda-nomics that the non-biological PM has created. Pakodas for the masses, halwa for the chosen few!" the Congress leader said.

The Congress has been attacking the government over its handling of the economy and raising concerns over "increasing" unemployment, price rise and "increasing income inequality".