Students, not very poor.

"India is poised to be the third largest global economy by 2030, but its rising population presents mounting challenges in basic service coverage, S&P Global Ratings said." ET. According to the latest "Poverty, Prosperity and Planet 2024" report from the World Bank, "While the number of Indians living in extreme poverty has significantly decreased from 431 million in 1990 to 129 million in 2024," "progress has slowed considerably since 2020, mainly due to the Covid pandemic, which pushed millions back into poverty," and "The disparity between the rich and poor has widened." ET. In November 2023, "The Cabinet led by Prime Minister has decided that the Central government will provide free food grains to about 81.35 crore (813.5 million) beneficiaries under the Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana (PMGKAY) for a period of five years with effect from 1st January 2024." pib,gov.in. Such welfare schemes provide a safety net against hunger and allow the poor to spend their meager earnings on other essentials. Economists feared that the rural employment scheme, the MGNREGA (wikipedia), would drive up wages and stoke inflation. But, "The researchers found that the payment reform raised household earnings of MGNREGS beneficiaries, boosted local demand, and drove up market wages and non-farm employment without causing inflation." "The direct impact of MGNREGS on household earnings was only 14%; 86% of the increase came from higher private sector wages and employment," wrote Pramit Bhattacharya. However, India will not become a high-income nation through welfare programs. For that we need real jobs with respectable wages. "Nearly 40,000 Indians have submitted applications in just two weeks for 1,000 spots under Australia's new visa program," as "The new Working Holiday Maker visa program allows Indians aged 18 to 30 to live, study and work in Australia for up to 12 months." Mint. All the applicants are hoping to somehow stay in Australia permanently even if employed in menial jobs. The reason is, in India, the number of self-employed workers has risen from 52.2% in 2017-18 to 58.4% in 2023-24, 73.5% of women in rural areas and 43.2% in urban areas are self-employed. People become self-employed when they can't get any other jobs and "They cannot afford to remain unemployed. This is reflected in the fact that most self-employed workers in India fall into the category of own-account workers, who run enterprises without hiring any workers. At the same time, around one-fifth (19.4%) of the self-employed workers in India are helpers in household enterprises working without wages," wrote Amit Kumar, Kriti Sharma & Puja Pal. Menial jobs in Western countries more attractive than helping to sell pakodas in India (wikipedia). "More than 90% of students do not wish to come back to India. say estimates." ET. It's an escape route. No one escapes to return.