Ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Davos address, where he is scheduled to share "his vision for India's future engagement with world", reports of "discontent" among Indian citizens are raising concerns over his the government's economic policies.
According to a Gallup survey, only 3% of Indians consider themselves "thriving" in 2017 as compared to 14% in 2014.
The report titled "What Happiness Today Tells Us About The World Tomorrow", shows a dramatic trajectory of decline. From 14% in 2014-- the year when BJP government came in power-- the graph has only seen a negative movement. Only 8% people saw their lives "thriving"in 2015, 5% in 2016 and the lowest being 3% in 2017.
The year 2017, for India, was also instrumental as far as economic reforms are concerned. Tackling demonetisation, the government also rolled out Goods and Services Tax (GST) last year.
The inflation is reported to have gone down but concern looms in the jobs sector, with experts terming it as "jobless growth."
The report in its foreword mentions that it's not just India, but life is getting worse since year 2014 according to the citizens from Russia, Columbia and Egypt too. All these nations are to face general elections in next two years. India’s next general election is planned for 2019.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi took office in 2014, pledging to boost the country’s economic growth and create jobs. Every year since then, majorities of
Indians have been highly optimistic about their economy and have expressed confidence in their government. But Indians’ ratings of their lives have also gotten worse every year, and just 3% of all Indians fall into the thriving category in 2017.
The thriving percentage was 16 in the year 2007.
"This suggests that Indians’ high hopes for their economy and their leadership may not yet align with what they are personally experiencing,"says the report.
The study further details that India’s largely rural population initially led the declines in life evaluations, with thriving dropping from 14% to 7% between 2014 and 2015, and edging even lower to 4% and 3% in the years after that. However, it stated that the declines have been much more gradual amongst the urban populace.
Living Wage Family in India remains almost flat in the 17300-17400 INR/Month range over his tenure. Meanwhile, wages paid to low-skilled labor decreased to 10,300 INR/Month in 2017 from 13,300 INR/Month in 2014.
The study ends by saying “when people see their lives headed in the wrong direction, they want change.” Well, that might be a matter of concern for the Indian government that is looking foreward to a fiery elections.
Gallup survey tracks several issues such as food access, employment, leadership and performance and well being. It uses telephone surveys in countries as well as face-to-face survey. With some exceptions, all samples are probability based and nationally representative of the resident population aged 15 and older. The coverage area is the entire country including rural areas, and the sampling frame represents the entire civilian, non-institutionalized adult population of the country.
