New Delhi: Financial crisis brought by coronavirus pandemic in 2020 is estimated to have pushed about 32 million Indians out of the middle class, while number of people who have fallen below the poverty line could have increased by 75 million as a result of the pandemic, a report by Pew Research Centre released on Thursday stated.
The report further added that the number of Indians in the middle class, or those earning between $10 and $20 (Rs700- Rs1,400) a day, shrunk by about 32 million, compared with the number that could have been reached in the absence of a pandemic. It also added that the numbers of those in the middle class has shrunk to 66 million, down a third from a pre-pandemic estimate of 99 million.
Citing the World Bank’s forecasts of economic growth, the Pew Research Centre said that India is estimated to have seen a greater decrease in the middle class and a much sharper rise in poverty than China in the COVID-19 downturn.
It also added that nearly 57 million people had joined the middle income group between 2011 and 2019. In January last year, the World Bank had forecast almost the same level of economic growth for India and China, at 5.8 per cent and 5.9 per cent respectively, in 2020.
However, the World Bank revised its forecast this January, and projected a contraction of 9.6 per cent for India and growth of 2 per cent for China.
At this time of crisis, India is facing a second wave of coronavirus infections, after a decline in cases until early this year, and its tally of 11.47 million is the highest after the United States and Brazil.
In this time, PM Modi has taken steps to support the economy, while projecting a contraction of 8 per cent in the current financial year, which ends this month, before economic growth picks up to about 10 per cent in the next financial year.