Your salary grew 0.4 percent in 10 years but food prices jumped 80 percent, how are you surviving?

Let me break this down because the numbers are insane. The Economic Survey itself admits that real wage growth in India has been barely 0.4 percent in the last 10 years. 0.4 percent. In a decade. That means if you were earning Rs 50,000 in 2014, your real purchasing power has gone up by Rs 200 in 10 years. Meanwhile food prices have jumped 80 percent or more in the same period. Tomatoes that cost Rs 20 per kg now cost Rs 100. Milk that was Rs 30 per litre is now Rs 60 plus. Cooking oil has doubled. School fees have doubled in 3 years. Healthcare costs are rising 14 percent yearly. EMIs are higher because of repo rate hikes. Petrol is still expensive. And your salary? Basically the same in real terms. You are literally poorer now than you were 10 years ago. The govt keeps announcing GDP growth numbers. 7 percent, 8 percent, they celebrate. But who is getting that growth? Not you. Not the middle class. The rich are getting richer. The top 1 percent holds more than 40 percent of India's wealth according to Oxfam. The poor get govt schemes like free ration and PMAY. But the middle class? You pay taxes on everything. Income tax, GST, petrol tax, mutual fund tax. And you get nothing in return. No free healthcare, no subsidised education, no housing support. You are the squeeze zone. The govt knows this. The Economic Survey data is their own document. But no politician talks about it because the middle class does not vote as a bloc. Here is what really hurts. The govt keeps saying India is the fastest growing major economy. But if GDP is growing at 7 percent and your salary is growing at 0.4 percent, where is that 7 percent going? It is going to corporate profits, to stock markets, to the top earners. The pie is getting bigger but your slice is shrinking. And the crazy part is that the govt keeps claiming inflation is under control at 3 to 4 percent. But your actual expenses, the stuff you buy every month, have gone up way more. The official inflation basket does not reflect what middle class families actually spend on. Education, healthcare, housing, and transportation costs are way higher than what CPI captures. The govt also changed the CPI calculation methodology a few years ago which conveniently lowered the headline number. So when they say inflation is 4 percent, your real cost of living increase is probably 12 to 15 percent. And your salary is growing at 0.4 percent. Do the math. Every year you are falling behind by 10 to 12 percent. Over 10 years, that is a massive drop in your standard of living. No wonder people are taking on more debt, delaying buying houses, having fewer kids, and struggling to save for retirement. Is the middle class being systematically crushed?