‘Being middle class in India is harder than being poor’: Pune startup founder’s blunt take

You’re not poor enough to qualify for aid. You’re not rich enough to escape the grind. You fund the system, but it never shows up for you. That’s the trap India’s middle class finds itself in and Pune-based startup founder Saurabh Mangrulkar has put it into sharp focus.

“Being middle class in India is more difficult than being poor,” Mangrulkar writes in a LinkedIn post that’s now drawing attention. 

“Why? No health benefits. No educational benefits. No subsidies of any kind. No government support of any kind.”

At the heart of the problem, he says, is a cutoff that excludes millions: “If you earn more than ₹2.5 lakh a year — that’s just ₹20,000 a month — you don’t get anything.”

But that income, he argues, isn’t remotely enough to cover urban living. “People earning ₹20,000 to ₹50,000 per month struggle to afford good education, quality healthcare, or even a small house in a decent locality.”

Middle-class families are caught in a zone where they’re ineligible for public welfare — but priced out of private systems too. “They can’t afford good hospitals, but can’t go to government ones either. They can’t afford private schools, but government schools won’t work for them.”

Subsidies? Non-existent. “They get no LPG subsidies. No food or electricity benefits. Nothing.”

“They are not poor, so they get no help. They are not rich, so they can’t help themselves. They’re just stuck.”

Worse, they’re footing the bill. “They pay taxes. They get nothing back.”

For many, life becomes a long cycle of debt and deferred dreams. “Middle-class people spend 10–15 years of their lives saving for their children’s education or a small house — all on loans and EMIs.”

And there’s no cushion when things go wrong. “If they lose their job, no one helps. If they fall sick, no one helps. There is no support system.”

“They’re expected to survive on their own.”