Top RSS leader raises concern over income inequality, unemployment, poverty

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s sarkaryavah or general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale has expressed concerns over rising income inequality, unemployment and poverty in India, referring to them as “demon-like challenges” which have to be ended. Hosabale said that in the last 75 years, India has made remarkable achievements in many fields, but poverty, unemployment rate and income inequality still remain a challenge like “demons” and it is very important to end them. Speaking at a webinar called ‘Swavalamban Ka Shankhnaad (Call for sell-reliance)’ — organised by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a Sangh affiliate, on Sunday, October 2 — Hosabale said that even today 200 million people in the country are below the poverty line. The per capita income of 23 crore people in the country is less than Rs 375, he said. 
He further said that the unemployment rate in the country is 7.6% and four crore people are unemployed. He described the unemployment situation in both rural and urban areas of the country as alarming. Referring to India’s rapid economic progress, Hosabale said that India has become one of the six big countries with the largest economies in the world, but the ever-increasing economic inequality in the country remains a big challenge even today.
Hosabale said that the top one per cent of India’s population has one-fifth of the nation’s income. And at the same time, 50% of India’s population has only 13% of the country’s total income, he said. The RSS leader blamed the wrong economic and education policies of the previous governments for the condition of the country and said that the present Narendra Modi-led Union government has done a good job to improve the situation.
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“Ten years ago, 22% of the people were below the poverty line, which is now only 18%. The per capita income of the people has also increased in the last ten years and the new National Education Policy can also help in eradicating poverty in the coming years,” he said. However, along with this, he still stressed the need to do a lot, saying that for a self-reliant and self-sustaining India, work will have to be done on many fronts. 
“Along with the government, the society and the industrialists of the country also have to come forward. Instead of looking for a job, the younger generation will also have to become a source for creating jobs by adopting the path of self-employment. There is a need to inculcate a sense of respect for labour in society and also change the mindset of the people. To make India a prosperous country, everyone has to work together on many fronts,” he said.
Meanwhile, JD(S) leader HD Kumaraswamy on Monday said there is a big question on the ruling BJP’s claims of “Acche Din” (good days), as he referred to Hosabale’s statement expressing concern over “rising income inequality and unemployment” in the country. The former Chief Minister, in a series of tweets, said the statement by a top leader of RSS, which is the ideological parent-organisation of the ruling party, holds a mirror to the present condition in the country.

@BJP4India mother root @RSSorg General secretary Dattatreya Hosabale’s statement that economic inequality, poverty & unemployment are very dangerous holds mirror to the present condition in India. Now there are big question over claims of Achche Din.1/6 pic.twitter.com/8A20aXE9U1
— ಹೆಚ್.ಡಿ.ಕುಮಾರಸ್ವಾಮಿ | H.D.Kumaraswamy (@hd_kumaraswamy) October 3, 2022

“BJP’s mother-root, RSS’ general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale’s statement that economic inequality, poverty and unemployment are very dangerous holds mirror to the present condition in India. Now, there are big questions on the claims of Acche Din,” Kumaraswamy said. Stating that one doesn’t require expertise to say who has flourished, and who has lost everything in the last seven years of BJP rule, he said Hosabale himself has said that 20 crore people are below the poverty line and four crore youth unemployed. “Then, who became rich in the last 7 years?” Kumaraswamy asked. 
Pointing out that malnutrition is rampant across the country and there is no drinking water in a number of villages, Kumaraswamy said, “When this is the truth, why is there fear to introspect ‘Acche Din’? Hosabale has spoken the truth of what surveys also say.” “Acche Din” is the ruling BJP’s slogan which has been used by the party and its leaders since the time the party came to power in 2014.
Warning not to be surprised if increasing economic inequality leads to “bigger rage”, Kumaraswamy said the country getting caught in the web of the ‘corporate world’ is not a good sign. “People’s frustration and impatience is increasing day by day. It is time the BJP woke up,” added the son of former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda.
With PTI and IANS inputs 
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