New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS) The number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142, while 84 per cent of households in the country suffered a decline in their income in 2021, which was also a year marked by tremendous loss of life and livelihoods, according to non profit Oxfam India's latest report published on Monday.
The report 'Inequality Kills' comes ahead of the World Economic Forum's Davos Agenda.
It indicates that the collective wealth of India's 100 richest people hit a record high of Rs 57.3 lakh crore in 2021.
In India, during the pandemic (since March 2020, through to November 30th, 2021) the wealth of billionaires increased from Rs 23.14 lakh crore to Rs 53.16 lakh crore.
More than 4.6 crore Indians, meanwhile, are estimated to have fallen into extreme poverty in 2020 (nearly half of the global new poor according to the United Nations).
The stark wealth inequality in India is a result of an economic system rigged in favour of the super-rich over the poor and marginalised, the report said
It advocates a one per cent surcharge on the richest 10 per cent of the Indian population to fund inequality combating measures such as higher investments in school education, universal healthcare, and social security benefits like maternity leaves, paid leaves and pension for all Indians.
"The 'Inequality Kills' briefing shows how deeply unequal our economic system is and how it fuels not only inequality but poverty as well. We urge the Government of India to commit to an economic system which creates a more equal and sustainable nation," Amitabh Behar, CEO, Oxfam India said in a statement.
Further, Behar said that Oxfam's global briefing points to the stark reality of inequality contributing to the death of at least 21,000 people each day, or one person every four seconds.
Moreover, the pandemic set gender parity back from 99 years to now 135 years. Women collectively lost Rs 59.11 lakh crore in earnings in 2020, with 1.3 crore fewer women in work now than in 2019, the report showed.
"It has never been so important to start righting the wrongs of this obscene inequality by targeting extreme wealth through taxation and getting that money back into the real economy to save lives," Behar said.
"India can show the world that democratic systems are capable of wealth redistribution and inclusive growth where no one is left behind. India's fight against inequality and poverty must be supported by the billionaires who made record profits in the country during the pandemic," he suggested.
Amid crisis, the Congress in poll-bound Punjab is all set to welcome an MLA from Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) who has resigned from the party. Sidhu has been demanding the replacement of Deol, who had represented former Director General of Police Sumedh Singh Saini in cases related to the 2015 sacrilege and subsequent police firing on protesters.
Chinese frontline troops at the China-India border are getting prepared in logistics for the upcoming winter, with several new measures and facilities revealed for the first time to improve the living and working condition of officers and soldiers, which have further boosted their morale as well as the capability to patrol and execute tasks in the high-altitude region during harsh weather.
Two of his associates, Ashok Tiwari and Ashish Shukla, have also been convicted. Judge Pawan Kumar Rai of a special MP/MLA court in Lucknow held Prajapati guilty of gang rape charges in the case under Sections 482/378/407 of the Indian Penal Code.
Calling for reopening of the Kartarpur Sahib Corridor in Pakistan, former Union Minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Wednesday urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to personally intervene to "open the proposal for a land swap between India and Pakistan for merger of the holy shrine at Kartarpur Sahib with India in exchange for a suitable chunk of land elsewhere.
Lucknow zone ADG S.N. Sabat, a Director-General level officer, says that the investigation by the SIT into the Kheri incident where 8 people lost their lives is on the right track.
In a bid to provide financial relief to cotton farm labourers, the Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday approved the policy formulated for extending relief to the families of cotton-picking farm labourers affected by the damage caused to the crop by the pink bollworm disease.
