India’s Neoliberal Crisis Is Fueling Hindu Authoritarianism
As India’s leader, Narendra Modi has deepened the neoliberal framework in place since the early 1990s. The social crisis arising from that model drives Modi’s government to rely more and more on a dangerous, authoritarian discourse of social division.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi speaks after releasing the Bharatiya Janata Party’s manifesto ahead of the country’s upcoming general elections, in New Delhi on April 14, 2024. (Sajjad Hussain / AFP via Getty Images)
The decade during which Narendra Modi has been the prime minister of India has witnessed a sharp increase in income and wealth inequality. According to the World Inequality Database, the share of the top 1 percent in national income, at 22.7 percent in 2023, is higher than at any time over the last century.
This increase in inequality has been accompanied by a rise in the ratio of the population facing absolute nutritional deprivation. India’s quinquennial surveys on consumer expenditure show a significant rise between 2011–12 and 2017–18 in the percentage of the population unable to access a minimum daily calorie norm per capita, which is 2,100 for urban and 2,200 for rural areas.
India is believed to be one of the fastest growing economies in the world, although growth rate figures are known to be highly exaggerated. However, it currently ranks 111 out of the 125 countries in the Global Hunger Index — a rank that has worsened over the last decade.
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