Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday, June 15, 2026, shared a glimpse of how his government has worked to enhance the 'Ease of Living' for India's middle class, marking the occasion with the hashtag #12YearsOfSakshamMiddleClass — a reference to twelve years of Bharatiya Janata Party-led governance at the Centre.

Context

The post arrives as the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government marks over a decade in power, a milestone the ruling party has been commemorating through a series of outreach campaigns. The phrase 'Ease of Living' has been a cornerstone of the administration's public messaging since 2014, positioning governance reforms as directly improving the daily lives of ordinary citizens — particularly urban middle-class households.

The hashtag #12YearsOfSakshamMiddleClass — roughly translating to 'twelve years of an empowered middle class' — signals a structured communications campaign timed to the anniversary of the government's formation.

Policy Backdrop

The 'Ease of Living' framework was developed as a complement to the government's better-known 'Ease of Doing Business' agenda. Where the latter targeted entrepreneurs and industry, the former focused on measurable improvements in urban service delivery, housing access, and daily compliance burdens for residents.

Key pillars cited by the government over the years include the expansion of Direct Benefit Transfer from 2014-15 onward, which was credited with reducing leakages in subsidy delivery and improving access for middle-income households. The rollout of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) in 2017 unified India's indirect tax structure, a move the government presented as simplifying compliance for consumers and small businesses alike.

Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (Urban), launched in 2015, extended affordable housing credit-linked subsidies to middle-class families — a segment that had historically fallen outside the ambit of welfare schemes designed for below-poverty-line beneficiaries.

Stakeholders and Impact

India's middle class — broadly defined as urban professionals, salaried employees, and small business owners — has been a central electoral and policy constituency for the BJP since 2014. This segment has benefited from digitisation of government services, reduced paperwork through platforms such as DigiLocker and the Unified Payments Interface (UPI), and income-tax relief measures introduced across successive Union Budgets.

At the same time, this constituency has also voiced concerns over inflation, stagnant real wages, and the rising cost of education and healthcare — pressures that the government's 'Ease of Living' narrative is partly designed to address. Public campaigns such as #12YearsOfSakshamMiddleClass serve a dual purpose: consolidating perceived gains and pre-empting opposition critiques ahead of electoral cycles.

What's Next

Political observers will watch the next Union Budget closely for proposals on personal income-tax slab revisions and new urban housing or skill-development schemes aimed at the middle class. The #12YearsOfSakshamMiddleClass campaign is likely to be amplified across BJP platforms in the coming weeks, with ministers and party functionaries expected to highlight sector-specific outcomes in areas such as infrastructure, digital services, and financial inclusion. Whether the campaign translates into concrete new policy announcements or remains a retrospective communications exercise will define its political salience.