On and around June 9, 2026, a full-page advertisement appeared in several English and Tamil newspapers — and presumably in all Indian newspapers — listing the achievements of the Narendra Modi government during the last 12 years.
Twelve years is a significant milestone. The Modi government was elected first in 2014, re-elected in 2019, and re-elected in 2024, but with a substantially reduced number. The BJP hailed the tenure of Mr Modi as the longest of any elected Prime Minister. Quite unnecessarily, it compared his tenure with the tenure of Jawaharlal Nehru. Sans comparison, a tenure of 12 years is indeed enviable. Everyone knows that Nehru was the first prime minister of independent India; he won elections in 1952, 1957 and 1962, and he was prime minister for 17 years. He served as prime minister for the longest number of years, so far.
Every government is entitled to make claims, and a little amount of puffery is tolerated. But the advertisements in question went beyond puffery. The people saw through Mr Modi’s exaggerated claims two years ago, and limited the BJP to 240 seats in the Lok Sabha, denying the party a simple majority in the House. Two years later, the same claims are being made.
Without malice
Without malice, I wish to take a sample of the claims and show you what they are:
🔴 Government has created 3 crore lakhpati didi
Lakhpati didi, according to the government’s definition, is a female member of a Self Help Group (SHG). In August 2025, it was reported that 1,48,00,000 SHG members had become lakhpati didi. In March 2026, in response to a parliamentary Question, it was said 3,07,33,820 SHG members had self-declared that they were lakhpati didi. The SHG movement, which predates the Modi government, has empowered women and given them skills to earn more, but to claim that the Modi government had created 3 crore lakhpati didi is a tall claim. I doubt if an independent audit has confirmed the claim.
Let’s examine the claim closely. India’s working-age population of women (aged 15 years and above) is 53 crore, and the female participation (at LFPR of 41.7 per cent) is about 22 crore — that’s the number of women who are working or actively seeking work. If the claim of 3 crore lakhpati didi is accepted at face value, about one in seven women in the labour force (working or actively seeking work) is lakhpati! The SHG members (nearly all women) are estimated at 9-10 crore, which means that one in three members of SHGs is lakhpati!
The truth is that the claim relates not to the woman’s own net worth but the woman’s household’s annual income. The claim conceals that other members of the household may earn incomes — the household may already have a total annual income of Rs 1 lakh, and the woman may contribute only a part. An annual household income of Rs 1 lakh is not rare or unusual. In fact, it is common in a country with a per capita annual income of Rs 2,05,324.
The claim that the government created 3 crore lakhpati didi out of SHG members is hollow.
🔴 Government has increased number of operational airports from 74 to 164
Infrastructure is being built every year, and that includes airports that are AAI-owned based on the PPP model and private airports. The number 164 is correct, but the key word is operational. The common citizen would believe that an operational airport has regular scheduled commercial passenger flights. In that view, the government’s claim is not true. Airports include airports that are defence-related, cargo and training, but they offer no regular commercial passenger flights.
Under the UDAN scheme, several small airports were operationalised, and passenger services were commenced; 774 routes were offered to airlines, but according to the C&AG, no commercial services were started on 403 routes. The C&AG also concluded that only 112 routes were operated during the three-year subsidy period, and once the subsidy ended, only 54 routes survived. In 2025, the government admitted that 15 UDAN airports became non-operational.
Industry estimates put the number of operational airports at 120.
🔴 Government has opened 19000+ Jan Aushadhi stores
The Jan Aushadhi stores programme was started in 2008 but failed in 2013. After declaring that ‘government has no business to be in business’, the Modi government revamped and re-launched the programme in 2015 on a franchise model in order to provide quality medicines at affordable prices. Quality of medicines is regulated by the Drugs Controller General of India (DGCI) and the State Drug Control Authorities. Prices of essential medicines are regulated by the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA). Displaying MRP on every package is mandatory under the Legal Metrology Rules.
There are lakhs of private retail pharmacies owned and run by small businesspersons. Pharmacy chains by big businesses have also entered the market with a retail-cum-delivery model. As per industry estimates, the retail pharmacy business had a turnover of Rs 2,25,000 crore in 2024-25. Jan Aushadhi pharmacies’ combined sales turnover in 2024-25 was Rs 2,022 crore at MRP value — less than 1 per cent share of the market. We don’t know whether the government bears a loss every year. If the quality and prices are not satisfactory, that is a failure of the two regulators.
The government’s programmes are moderately successful. Truthful disclosure will enhance credibility. Puffery will not.
