Budget 2025: Ease of Living or More Disappointment?
As India gears up for the Union Budget on 1st February, the lofty slogans and promises of ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed India) are looking increasingly hollow. After a decade of ‘rapid progress,’ the middle class, considered the backbone of the nation’s economy, continues to grapple with poor quality of life on most counts that matter such as health, education, water, environment and urbanisation. The cracks in the grand narrative of development are becoming harder to ignore.
 
Despite two terms of infrastructure expansion under the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), ordinary citizens are left to face the fallout of poor planning, delays, sub-par construction and increase in project costs barring a few exceptions. Roads riddled with potholes, recurring bridge collapses and inadequate last-mile connectivity to industrial and business hubs plague the country's landscape. Multi-modal public transport systems remain grossly insufficient across major cities, while relentless construction and unchecked traffic chaos have turned air quality in metros into a health crisis.
 
Economic Strain on the Middle Class
Amid these structural inefficiencies, the economic burden on middle-class families is getting heavier. While the rupee continues to slide, soaring inflation and relentless taxation have eroded disposable incomes. Families are having to scale back consumption and are struggling under the weight of a sharp increase in non-collateralised personal loans which has the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) worried. Consumption, a critical economic driver, remains muted, as reflected in sluggish revenue figures for large consumer-facing companies. Even the buoyant capital markets, a shining beacon of the past four years, have faltered, leaving over 100mn (million) retail investors—a majority of whom has only seen a bull market —grappling with losses, panic and uncertainty.
 
The disenchantment is finally making people wonder whether the slogans that once inspired hope—Make in India, Swachh Bharat, Achhe Din and Ease of Living—have led to any real improvement in the quality of their lives. In crowded urban India, people have to deal with all the manifestations of a sharp increase in corruption, such as bad roads, encroached public spaces, lack of adequate public transport, deterioration of air quality and poor municipal services. 
 
At the same time, there is a feeling that they are paying higher tolls, cess and fees and taxes without any reciprocation from the State in the form of social security, quality healthcare or education. The transformative benefits of technology, particularly in simplifying payments, have also become a double-edged sword with the alarming rise in cybercrime. These crimes, often rooted in social engineering tactics, exploit the regulatory overreach that allows authorities to impose severe financial hardships on law-abiding citizens. Savings and trading accounts are frequently frozen without warning, merely for re-submission of know-your-customer (KYC) documents even, when no changes have occurred. All this has left people, especially senior citizens, feeling vulnerable and frustrated, because redress is slow and even non-existent. For many, the promise of ease of living remains a distant dream.
 
The Taxpayer’s Dilemma
Salaried taxpayers, who shoulder the twin burdens of high direct taxes on income and indirect taxes on consumption, are particularly disenchanted. Policy-makers respond by highlighting the fact that only about 80mn Indians filed tax returns in 2023-24, with 63% reporting no tax liability; but this statistic obscures the fact that direct tax collections have surged by 180% over the past decade. The disproportionate reliance on salaried taxpayers contrasts with a failure to broaden the tax base or finding innovative ways to generate revenue.
 
Instead of exercising fiscal prudence or attempting to rein in government expenditure, political parties across the spectrum have embraced reckless subsidies and freebies to win elections, exacerbating public frustration. This discontent is no longer easily diverted by divisive rhetoric designed to shift focus away from pressing socio-economic issues. There is an urgent need for the government to outline policies that focus on employment generation and job creation. The Budget usually signals the path to such changes. There is no such indication; instead, we have a new distraction.
 
A New Distraction: The Call for More Children
If anything, the latest narrative—urging citizens to have more children—seems alarmingly out of touch with people’s aspirations. While the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief, Mohan Bhagwat, and other politicians invoke declining fertility rates as a rationale for encouraging people to have more children, the data tells a different story. India remains the world’s most populous country with 1.45bn (billion) people. We are in no danger of losing that dubious distinction. The only real implication of falling fertility rates in the immediate future is slower population growth, which is a good thing for India. Moreover, economically backward states, where fertility rates remain above the replacement level of 2.1, will continue to remain a critical challenge. 
 
At over 234mn, India had the highest number of people living in poverty in 2024; our unemployment rate remains high and 810mn Indians need government rations just to survive. Without addressing the issue of poverty, an increase in population will only strain resources further.
 
Mr Bhagwat’s claim that people need to have three children in order to avoid problems faced by developing economies, such as Japan and Korea, is contradictory in many ways. The problems of Japan and Korea stem from a certain work culture that is being controversially advocated by NR Narayana Murthy (of Infosys), SN Subrahmanyan (of Larsen & Toubro) and several other chief executive officers (CEOs), in the name of nation building. Can larger families and long working hours go together, or are these controversies debates generated to distract people from real issues?
 
Given that the RSS is considered the ideological lodestar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), maybe the two should clarify whether the exhortation to have more children is for all Indians, or only aimed at preventing the Hindu population from shrinking?  Meanwhile, chief ministers N Chandrababu Naidu and MK Stalin have echoed similar sentiments, perhaps for different reasons. Both Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu have lower fertility (1.73) and significantly higher per capita income than many north Indian states. This has led to southern states contributing more money to the exchequer, with a lower representation in Parliament. Instead of pushing for an equitable solution to this problem, the two chief ministers want women to bear more children – not by promising better healthcare for women or education and jobs for their children, but by offering to provide more subsidised rice to families with more children. This only underscores how disconnected politicians are from the needs and aspirations of people, especially women. 
 
As political leaders echo the RSS chief’s rhetoric, critical questions remain unanswered: How will India tackle increased unemployment, resource scarcity and the deepening poverty that such policies might exacerbate? Will the Union Budget, finally, offer relief to the middle class in the form of genuine ‘ease of living’? Or will it continue the trend of extracting more taxes from the same limited pool of contributors, while providing little in return?
 
With no clear policy framework or credible vision, the growing gap between promises and reality is beginning to fuel a sense of betrayal. The Union Budget is not just an opportunity to address these concerns—it is a litmus test for whether the government can still inspire confidence in its citizens.
 
Comments
mgnsrlt
2 weeks ago
Extortionist taxation with no commensurate benefit for the common citizen! I don't know how many are aware of a serious outbreak of GBS , a life threatening disease in Pune, caused by contaminated water! Who's responsible for maintaining the water quality? None other rhan Pune Municipal Corporation! What happens to all the taxes we pay? is this what citizens get in return?
svrsama2015
2 weeks ago
P. S. The piece about the exhortation to have more children is again, absolutely timely. To anyone who has been watching the slide in the social discourse, it is obvious that this is the product of real or manufactured phobia about minorities which will set to naught whatever little advancement we have made in the last couple of generations!
Meenal Mamdani
Replied to svrsama2015 comment 2 weeks ago
Absolutely correct. And that is the problem with RSS and BJP.

They would rather play the Hindutva card for distracting people from the economic problems than put in the hard work that is needed to stimulate the economy by encouraging the micro, small and medium enterprises.

We need employment for youth which unfortunately will not be generated by mega corporations.
I agree that we do need large manufacturers too but at the same time we need to stimulate the economy through the MSME mechanism.

I don't know if you are aware of Rang De, rangde.in which gives loans at very affordable low rates to people in these sectors. It is vetted and regulated by RBI, so very legit. One can loan as little as INR 100 to a person and then when she/he returns the money with interest, lend that amount to another. So your investment of INR 100 can multiply over the months into hundreds of rupees. In case you do not wish to loan, then you can withdraw the entire amount at any time.
There is such a huge need for credit in the micro and small sector.

If only RSS/BJP would ask their adherents to loan money through this organization. They can select only Hindu recipients for the loan, that too is fine but for heaven's sake do something positive instead of constantly creating disharmony in society.
svrsama2015
2 weeks ago
Well argued and timely, thank you.
It seems that the middle classes' plight is now being increasingly articulated, what with other famous journalists suddenly taking up the cause.
The so called Indian middle class is actually a misnomer as there is no single attribute that captures the essence, unless one choses to lump all salaried tax payers living in A and B class cities into this category. Middle class doesn't exist in the vast Indian hinterland, nor in the small towns scattered across the length and breadth of this country. And, given the opportunity, most of them would vote with their feet. It is only when the escape avenues are shut, most of us, the prisoners of the system, may start thinking about the real issues and the solutions. One has to thank the likes of Trump, Melony and AfD for the change that they may inadvertently trigger in the Indian middle class's aspirations! If there is a collective consciousness amongst the middle classes, it fails to manifest itself in the form of protests or voting patterns. There are indeed some notable exceptions, but they are individuals or NGOs, not enough numbers to make politicians take notice.
A new definition of haves and have nots is "haves: those who can milk the system, have-nots: those who have no opportunity to milk it".
Kaushik.jayaram
2 weeks ago
This is an excellent summary of the issues facing the country. Apart from not doing much, the government has actually undermined the economy with foolish actions like demonetization, faulty GST, and a horrible Covid lockdown. The government has also suppressed data and reduced once celebrated Indian statistical system to a caricature to avoid accountability.
amit_kumar
2 weeks ago
Difficult to think of a single measure in which India is better off compared to 10 years back.
iaminprabhu
2 weeks ago
Very good article! YES indeed the DIRECT TAX Paying MIDDLE CLASS is getting a raw deal in every sense for last several years!
r_ashok41
2 weeks ago
Till now any budget from the present govt has nothing to offer to the salaried class who pay the taxes diligently and in that i can say the present FM has done nothing to the salaried class as well as to senior citizens other than removing the facilities.I do not understand the logic behind.
Meenal Mamdani
2 weeks ago
All that this Modi/BJP govt cares about is Hindutva. The ideology that says that Hinduism is better than any other religion, that minority religion adherents must be treated as potential traitors, that competence is less important than slavish support of this ideology to land all jobs.
It is a shame that the govt tries to distract from its failures by instigating attacks on minorities.
iaminprabhu
Replied to Meenal Mamdani comment 2 weeks ago
Kafirs is base teaching across the world only in 1 religion & BTW H-M riots were rampant in DYNASTY FAMILY rule for decades across all states (which now rarely occur, except few random events).
Kaushik.jayaram
Replied to iaminprabhu comment 2 weeks ago
All riots in India, with the sole exception of the Delhi Sikh riots, were due to the active participation of the Hindutva forces and as a reaction from their Islamic counterparts. Now that they are in power, they don't bother to riot but use the state power plus their Hindutva followers to attack the minorities.
jsunil
Replied to Kaushik.jayaram comment 2 weeks ago
What a crazy logic is yours!
iaminprabhu
Replied to Kaushik.jayaram comment 2 weeks ago
Good JOKE !
Meenal Mamdani
Replied to iaminprabhu comment 2 weeks ago
Really! So riots where hundreds die is the only criteria for religious disharmony?
Individuals who get lynched for supposedly hurting the feelings of the majority community are negligible deaths?
The govt would serve the common people better if they maintained peace and feeling of security among citizens so commerce can flourish and provide employment opportunities for the young which is the need of the hour.
But, of course, the present govt is more interested in visiting other countries expounding the glories of Viksit Bharat than focusing on solving the problems of the common people in India.
ramaninv1953
2 weeks ago
Let us hope the latest budget brings substantial relief to Middle Class.
pawarabhi513
2 weeks ago

Thanks for addressing the problems.
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