In contemporary India’s economic narrative, the middle class often plays the overlooked protagonist, reduced to a mere market or consumer class. The rhetoric surrounding India’s rise as a global economic power tends to focus on the burgeoning elite and innovative tech hubs, while the concerns of the country’s vast middle class remain largely underrepresented.
Undeniably the backbone of India’s economy, the middle class significantly contributes to consumption, growth, and social stability.
Yet, despite its pivotal role, the middle class is increasingly beset by rising costs, diminishing access to quality essential services, and an economy and polity often stubbornly hostile to its aspirations.
India’s middle class: dreams, disparities, disillusionment
India’s middle class grapples with a range of escalating challenges in education, healthcare, land ownership, and law enforcement. Private education and healthcare, once optional, have become vital for upward mobility and quality of life. However, for many middle-class families, these services remain financially inaccessible. Parents often take on loans or sell assets to afford good education for their children, with tuition fees at prestigious institutions frequently surpassing their economic capacity. Similarly, healthcare costs, even for routine treatments, have surged, placing overwhelming burdens on families, especially those without adequate insurance.
Interacting with the police further compounds the hardships faced by the middle class. For many, a visit to the police station is an ordeal marked by rampant extortion illegal detention, harassment, and mental distress. For those who cannot offer bribes or favours in return, the police station becomes a “chamber of horrors.” Worse still, genuine concerns are often dismissed, making the police station feel like an ineffective, almost irrelevant institution for ordinary citizens.
Property ownership is another aspiration that remains beyond the reach of the middle class. Real estate in India has become so overpriced that it is virtually impossible for the average middle-class person to afford property unless they inherit it. Even individuals who take on substantial debt to purchase a home spend a lifetime repaying the interest on loans, often with little hope of ever truly owning it. And yet, the irony remains: those who manage to buy property have to contend with polluted air and water, and mountains of garbage. The complex permits, land extortion mafias, and bureaucratic hurdles only add to the stress. With city centres now so prohibitively expensive, many are forced to settle on the outskirts, enduring long commutes and relying on overburdened public transportation to navigate their daily lives.
India’s transport infrastructure further exacerbates these difficulties. Roads in both urban and rural areas are poorly maintained and increasingly congested. The rise in vehicle ownership, driven by rapid urbanisation, has far outpaced the development of infrastructure, resulting in widespread traffic jams. Public transport, already stretched thin, is overwhelmed by the influx of migrants to cities. In Mumbai, for instance, overcrowded local trains pose significant health risks and have caused over 52,000 deaths in the past two decades.
Work culture in India remains exploitative, characterised by long hours and low wages compared to global standards. Many middle-class Indians dream of emigrating for better opportunities, but financial constraints often thwart these aspirations. Corruption in the police verification process during passport applications only adds to their sense of disillusionment. Since 2011, over 1.9 million Indians have renounced their citizenship. Meanwhile, those who remain in the country continue to hope for a better future, even as their aspirations and concerns often go unaddressed in the national discourse.
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Social discontent, political disengagement and marginalisation
The political engagement of India’s expanding middle class remains strikingly absent, despite its growing economic prominence. Once viewed as a marginal and politically inconsequential demographic, the middle class in post-Independence India largely disengaged from politics. However, with its dramatic expansion in the post-liberalisation era, this demographic has emerged as a formidable electoral force.
Yet, despite its increasing political significance, the middle class often finds itself sidelined in political discourse. While its economic concerns—such as inflation, job security, and access to quality public services—remain underserved, political parties frequently prioritise symbolic and identity-driven issues, leaving the economic grievances largely unaddressed.
This neglect has fostered a growing sense of disillusionment, further exacerbated by the increasing dominance of corporate funding in Indian elections, which reinforces the perception that the political system is increasingly oriented toward the interests of a wealthy elite, rather than the broader electorate. In contrast, political strategies for India’s economically disadvantaged groups often centre on direct cash transfers, welfare schemes, and distribution of tangible benefits designed to appeal to their vote. While these populist measures address immediate concerns, they offer little in terms of long-term solutions that would lead to the economic stability and growth sought by the middle class.
The government’s political calculus seems to favour the affluent and the marginalised, while largely disregarding the middle class. This growing political neglect has left the middle class feeling alienated and questioning its role in a political system that appears to have little regard for its concerns.
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A call for middle-class advocacy
As India continues on its path of development, there is a pressing need for political formations and advocacy structures that specifically address the concerns of this demographic and seed the local economy. Issues such as economic policy, education, healthcare, job security, and infrastructure must be prioritised to prevent further alienation of the middle class—a group with the potential to drive India’s future prosperity. Neglecting these concerns would not only undermine the country’s economic progress but also risk the disenchantment of this crucial segment.
A viable solution may lie in establishing a dedicated pressure group for the middle class, analogous to the advocacy networks created for farmers, minorities, Dalits, OBCs, and tribal communities. Given the history of political disillusionment and perceived betrayal, the middle class may hesitate to engage with traditional political parties. In this context, a non-political advocacy organisation could serve as an initial platform to articulate and mobilise middle-class concerns. Over time, such a movement could foster trust, hope, and confidence, potentially evolving into a political force that champions their interests and significantly influences electoral outcomes.
This initiative could catalyse a paradigm shift in Indian politics, transcending entrenched divisions of religion, caste, and language to promote a politics centred on aspiration and development. By amplifying the voice of the middle class, such a movement could leverage India’s demographic advantage and ensure that this vital constituency’s needs are finally addressed. Only through such a shift can India secure the continued prosperity of its middle class, enabling it to contribute meaningfully to the nation’s economic growth and social cohesion.
Karti P Chidambaram is a Member of Parliament for Sivaganga, and a Member of the All India Congress Committee. He is also the Vice President of the Tamil Nadu Tennis Association. His X handle is @KartiPC. Views are personal.
(Edited by Prashant)
Everyone remembers the middle class and the tax payer, when out of power.
No governments cater to the middle class. All indulge in competitive socialism. Freebies, subsidies, reservation, loan waivers, and corruption are the staples of governments.
Well, the assumption here is that the Middle Class feels forgotten and exploited.
To the naked eye, it seems as if the Middle Class is quite happy dancing outside mosques on Ram Navami and digging under mosques to find temples.