5000 RS per month in India being middle class is a joke right?
in China, 2500 RMB per month (20000 RS) is just enough to survive in a tier 2 city. Food alone is 800 RMB (6400 RS) per month.
Now, China produces 5x the agricultural output of India, yet still imports food.
India has roughly the same population, has 5x lower output, and exports food. Food therefore, should not be cheaper just by supply and demand.
How the hell can you survive?
No doubt there is a gap between India and China. Not GDP number, I mean by the stats you provided, there seems to be a bigger gap between the rich and poor in India and higher percentage of Indians might not have enough food.
Food in China is not cheap though, compared to the average income. I was a bit shocked whenI saw the price in grocery stores. It was not much cheaper than in Canada. However, labor cost or service is still much cheaper, sometimes to a ridiculous extent I can't believe.
Actually I noticed similar things in Romania and Colombia as well, probably worse. Seems like that they're paying higher percentage of income for food than in China. Another thing I noticed is that middle class Chinese family in tier 2 cities, like ChongQing and Chengdu, almost all have LCD TV, car (some are imported brand like Toyoto or Volkswagen, some are cheaper domestic brand) and nice apartment. While in Romania, the don't seem to have more disposable income to spend. Quite a few people complained about joining Euro zone made their life more expensive than before.
The most important thing for the governments should be always raise the life quality of their people, lift the poor out of poverty, provide better education etc. GDP isn't everything, China, India, Pakistan all have long way to go. Stop fight or fight less, and make better life.