Nearly 22 crore Indians move into higher consumption brackets once the value of free goods and services given by governments is counted. These include foodgrains under the public distribution system (PDS), laptops, bicycles and school uniforms.
The finding comes from a study published in a journal of the National Statistics Office (NSO), according to a Times of India (TOI) report by Shiva Rajora. The 22 crore people make up around 19% of the rural population and 8.4% of the urban population.
