Union Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday, June 8, 2026, credited Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government with lifting over 25 crore people out of poverty, citing gains in healthcare, housing, sanitation, financial inclusion, food security, and clean water as markers of inclusive development under the #12YearsOfGaribKalyan campaign.

Context

Rijiju's post marks the 12th anniversary of the Modi government's welfare push, framed under the Garib Kalyan (welfare of the poor) umbrella that has branded a wide range of centrally sponsored schemes since 2014. The minister stated that 'over 25 crore people moving out of poverty and the rise of a new middle class reflect the success of inclusive development and last-mile delivery.' The post accompanies a video, reinforcing the government's communications effort around the milestone.

The #12YearsOfGaribKalyan hashtag signals a coordinated messaging exercise across the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, with senior ministers amplifying welfare outcome data to mark a full dozen years since PM Modi first took office in May 2014.

Policy Backdrop

Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana, launched in August 2014, opened bank accounts for previously unbanked households, forming the foundation of direct-benefit transfers. Swachh Bharat Mission, started in October 2014, targeted universal sanitation coverage and the elimination of open defecation across rural and urban India.

Ayushman Bharat, introduced in 2018, extended health cover of up to Rs 5 lakh per year to eligible poor families, while Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana, begun in 2015, aimed to construct pucca (permanent) houses for rural and urban poor households. Together, these schemes constitute the core of what the government describes as last-mile delivery infrastructure.

NITI Aayog's National Multidimensional Poverty Index report released in 2023 recorded a decline of approximately 13.5 crore people living in multidimensional poverty between 2015-16 and 2019-21, providing an official benchmark that the government has cited in subsequent welfare communications.

Stakeholders and Impact

The primary beneficiaries of these programmes are poor rural households and first-generation bank account holders who gained access to formal financial services, subsidised housing, and cashless health coverage. The government's framing of an emerging 'new middle class' positions former below-poverty-line families as upwardly mobile consumers, a narrative with implications for both social policy and electoral messaging.

For minority communities — a constituency that falls within Rijiju's portfolio as Minister of Minority Affairs — schemes such as Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana and Jan Dhan have been presented as instruments of economic integration, though independent assessments of differential reach remain ongoing.

What's Next

The next NITI Aayog Multidimensional Poverty Index update is awaited and is expected to cover data beyond the 2019-21 reference period, which would provide a more current statistical basis for the government's poverty-reduction claims. Welfare-scheme utilisation figures are also anticipated to be tabled during the upcoming monsoon session of Parliament.

As the government enters its second consecutive decade, the political salience of welfare delivery metrics is likely to intensify, with opposition parties expected to scrutinise the methodology and coverage of poverty-count figures ahead of state assembly cycles.