{"id":71558,"date":"2026-04-14T20:51:45","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=71558"},"modified":"2026-04-14T20:52:34","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T15:22:34","slug":"middle-class-challenges-india","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/14-04-2026\/middle-class-challenges-india","title":{"rendered":"Rising Vulnerability of India\u2019s Middle Class"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS3\/ Economy<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>India has reduced income-based poverty, but widespread economic vulnerability and limited upward mobility persist, shifting the policy focus from poverty alleviation to income security and mobility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Changing Approach to Welfare Measurement<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Traditional poverty measures<\/strong> classify individuals as <strong>poor or non-poor<\/strong> based on a fixed income threshold.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>The World Bank <\/strong>has proposed measuring welfare by assessing the <strong>distance from a reasonable standard of living.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This approach <strong>treats well-being as a continuum<\/strong> rather than a binary condition.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>It helps in identifying vulnerable populations who are just above the poverty line but lack economic stability.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Trends in India\u2019s Growth Experience<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Decline in Poverty but Rise in Vulnerability: <\/strong>A large number of individuals have crossed the poverty line due to economic growth, but many of these continue to live with low and unstable incomes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Emergence of a Vulnerable Middle Class: <\/strong>India is witnessing the expansion of a \u201cvulnerable middle\u201d rather than a stable and secure middle class.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>This group is characterised by limited savings, lack of social protection, and uncertain employment conditions.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Informalisation of Workforce:<\/strong>\u00a0 A significant proportion of India\u2019s workforce continues to be employed in the<strong> informal sector lacking job security, written contracts, and social security benefits.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sectoral Imbalances in the Economy: <\/strong>The manufacturing sector has not expanded sufficiently to absorb surplus labour from agriculture.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A significant share of the workforce remains engaged in agriculture despite its low contribution to GDP.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rising Inequality: <\/strong>Income and wealth inequality have increased alongside economic growth.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>A disproportionate share of national income is concentrated among the top income groups.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Socio-Economic Implications<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Labour Market Distress: <\/strong>High levels of unemployment, particularly among youth and educated individuals, persist.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Financial Fragility of Households: <\/strong>Household financial savings have declined while debt levels have increased.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Human Development Challenges:<\/strong> Indicators such as child malnutrition and stunting remain significant concerns.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Poor health and nutrition outcomes<\/strong> affect long-term productivity and economic mobility.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Initiatives taken by Government<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY):<\/strong> The scheme aims to provide industry-relevant skill training to youth in order to improve employability and enhance job opportunities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Production Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme: <\/strong>The government has introduced the PLI scheme to boost domestic manufacturing and integrate India into global value chains, which can generate large-scale formal employment if effectively implemented.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI): <\/strong>Platforms such as <strong>Aadhaar, UPI, and DBT <\/strong>have improved financial inclusion, reduced leakages, and enabled direct income support, thereby enhancing household resilience.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>e-Shram Portal: <\/strong>The government has created a national database of unorganised workers to enable targeted delivery of social security benefits.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Way Ahead<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The government should <strong>promote labour-intensive manufacturing sectors <\/strong>such as textiles, food processing, and electronics assembly to generate large-scale employment opportunities.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The government should <strong>increase public investment in education <\/strong>in order to improve learning outcomes and employability of the workforce.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The government should <strong>strengthen the Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)<\/strong> system to provide timely and targeted financial support to vulnerable households.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehindu.com\/news\/national\/rise-in-middle-class-vulnerability\/article70858958.ece\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>TH<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> India has reduced income-based poverty, but widespread economic vulnerability and limited upward mobility persist, shifting the policy focus from poverty alleviation to income security and mobility. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> Changing Approach to Welfare Measurement <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Traditional poverty measures classify individuals as poor or non-poor based on a fixed income threshold. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The World Bank has proposed measuring welfare by assessing the distance from a reasonable standard of living. <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/14-04-2026\/middle-class-challenges-india \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":15,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-71558","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71558","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/15"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71558"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71558\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":71560,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71558\/revisions\/71560"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71558"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71558"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71558"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}