PM Modi cites consumption data to assert poverty now at its lowest

New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi asserted on Monday that poverty in India is now at its lowest while household consumption has risen by 2.5 times compared to a decade earlier.

Speaking on the topic of 'India: Poised for the Next Big Leap' at the News9 Global Summit, he cited data to say that the consumption in rural India has grown at a faster pace than in urban India.

The data shows that people's ability to spend on different services and facilities has grown, he asserted, adding that they now have more money to use for things other than food.

"It has happened because of our focus on villages, the poor and farmers," Modi said.

His government created infrastructure keeping in mind the rural India, empowered women and created new employment opportunities, he said.

The percentage of money spent on food is now less than 50 per cent of the total household expenditure for the first time, he said.

Taking a swipe at previous governments, he said they deliberately kept people in scarcity due to their vote bank politics but his government has chosen the path of everyone's satisfaction, which rules out any scope for discrimination.

"We don't believe in politics of scarcity but governance of saturation," he asserted.

'We have not done appeasement but chosen the path of people's satisfaction. This has been our mantra,' he said.

His government has changed vote bank politics into politics of performance, he said.

If the world now thinks India is ready for a big leap, then the launch pad of the work done in the last 10 years is behind it, he said.

The prime minister said India's increasing credibility has become its identity at the world which thinks it will benefit by working along with the country.

The tenure of his government has seen a sea change in confidence, mindset, governance, he said, asserting that the scale at which India is working today is unprecedented and beyond imagination.

'We have to take India's capability to a new high in our third term,' he said, adding that next five years will be of the country's progress in its journey towards 'Viksit Bharat'.

Modi cited the recent launch of infrastructure and development projects, including IITs, IIMs, bridges and rail infrastructure, running into tens of thousands of crores to underline the change of scale and speed.

He cited a host of decisions, including the repeal of Article 370, construction of the Ram temple, women's reservation bill and abolition of instant triple talaq, under his government in the speech.

Under his government, two new colleges have come up everyday and one new university has come up every week, he said and cited a host of other developments.

The transformation under his government has happened as those who were in power earlier, he said in a jibe at the Congress dispensations, did not trust the ability of Indians and underestimated their strength.

Every Indian now thinks that nothing is impossible and he can do anything, the prime minister said.

Government offices are no longer a problem but are of help for citizens, he said, noting that poverty is now in single digit for the first time.

India was in 'reverse gear' under earlier governments, he said, citing schemes which were announced in 1960s and '80s but completed when his government came to power in 2014.

He personally reviewed projects worth Rs 17 lakh crore in his 10 years at the Centre, he said.