Athmanirbhar Developmental Indices The Sangh Parivar feel no shame or compunction in manufacturing and spreading lies in its leap to establish the much-dreamt Hindutva Rashtra. They manufacture even developmental indices of their choice that help whitewash Modi and his government. Reports of rigging the poverty index number for Modi’s election campaign 2024 have come out. The investigation by The Reporters’ Collective reveals how the dubious statistics were produced following the instructions from the Prime Minister’s office to counter select global rankings, such as the UN’s Multidimensional Poverty Index, in which the Indian government scores poorly.

The report also revealed how the government attempted to influence NGOs to alter key parameters of the Global Hunger Index to improve India’s ranking. This effort was spearheaded by a dedicated inter-ministerial unit called “Global Indices for Reform and Growth” (GIRG). The unit monitors global indices and engages with publishers to push for methodological changes favouring India’s rankings or orchestrating efforts to discredit the indices while promoting domestically crafted alternatives based on selective data. The poverty reduction figure that Modi cited during his election campaign came from one such index the government created with the help of this unit called GIRG.

The UN’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) was one of the 30 indices that the government monitored and reviewed, and eventually countered with a self-serving alternative because it showed India in a “poor light.”It is a shame on the nation and its honest population, but the Sangh Parivar, a party that boasts of being the ‘real patriots’ and its unquestioned leader, is barefacedly spreading blatant lies for mean political gains. Their government has become Athmanirbhar in making lies in India.

Mohammad Shafi

National Vice President