Pakodas for masses, halwa for chosen few: Congress slams govt over ILO report findings

Jairam Ramesh. File Pic

The Congress on Friday slammed the government over an International Labour Organisation report pointing to wage inequality in India, claiming this is a direct consequence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "pakoda-nomics" which is about 'pakodas' for the masses and 'halwa' for the chosen few.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the International Labour Organisation's just released Global Wage Report 2024-2025 has some concerning findings about wage inequality in India.

Citing the ILO report, he said the top 10 percentile of India's income-earners earn 6.8 times more than the bottom 10 percentile.

"This is significantly more unequal than nearly every country in our neighourhood, including Pakistan, Bangaldesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar," Ramesh said in a post on X.

He further cited the ILO report to state that India has one of the lowest share of wage-workers among all lower-middle-income countries. Most workers are engaged in self-employment which is typically informal, low-paying, and highly prone to volatility, Ramesh said.

"Remember this is a direct consequence of the pakoda-nomics that the non-biological PM has created. Pakodas for the masses, halwa for the chosen few!" the Congress leader said.

The Congress has been attacking the government over its handling of the economy and raising concerns over "increasing" unemployment, price rise and "increasing income inequality".

Big mystery why govt not resisting Parl adjournments, it has much to feel defensive: Congress

With Parliament facing repeated adjournments, the Congress on Friday said the big mystery is why the government is not resisting the interruptions and instead facilitating the aggression of the INDIA parties especially on the Adani issue.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said the government has much to feel defensive and apologetic about.

"Yet another day of a washout in the Parliament on the Modani issue. Both Houses adjourned today after only a few minutes. The big mystery is why the government is not resisting the adjournments," Ramesh said in a post on X.

"On the contrary, the government is facilitating the aggression of the INDIA parties on Modani especially - as also on Manipur, Sambhal, and Delhi's law and order. Clearly it has much to feel defensive and apologetic about," the Congress leader said.