The Delhi-based Oxfam India published this India supplement of the Survival of the Richest report on January 15, 2023. The paper states that India has around 228.9 million people living in poverty, making it the country with the largest number of poor people. At the same time, the number of billionaires in the country increased from 102 in 2020 to 166 in 2022. The wealth of the top 10 richest people in India showed a 32.8 per cent rise over 2021 figures. Despite this, the top 10 per cent account for only three to four per cent of the total goods and services tax (GST) collected as compared to the bottom 50 per cent who contribute almost two-thirds (64.3 per cent) of it.
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As per the report, as much as 40.6 per cent of India’s total wealth is
concentrated in the hands of the richest one per cent of the population.Conversely, the bottom half of the country’s population owns a mere three per
cent of its wealth. -
The paper cites a Brookings
India report that states, based on data from the National Sample Survey Office, that healthcare expenses drive
almost seven per cent of the country’s population into poverty annually. -
A working paper by the World
Bank, published in 2022, reported a higher rate of poverty in rural areas
in India (11.6 per cent) in comparison to that in urban areas (6.3 per cent). -
The present Oxfam paper cites the 2022 Global Multidimensional Poverty Index to note that India
is the only country in South Asia to have considerably greater levels of
poverty in female-headed households than in male-headed households. -
Citing data from the Reserve Bank of India in an India Today
report, the paper states that by the end of June 2022, personal debt levels in
the country increased to Rs. 35.2 trillion. Meanwhile, chairman of the Adani
group – Gautam Adani – saw his wealth reach around Rs. 10.96 lakh crores by
October 2022, making him the richest Indian. -
According to a 2018 paper for the World Inequality Lab, the wealth owned
by the richest 10 per cent of India’s population grew from 45 per cent of the
country’s total wealth in 1981 to 63 per cent in 2012. -
The paper cites Credit Suisse data to state that more than 50 per cent
of the total wealth of the richest 10 per cent is owned by those in the richest
one per cent bracket. -
Reducing the stark wealth inequality in the country requires “easing the
tax burden on the poor and marginalized”, states the paper. To achieve this, it
encourages the government to reduce taxes on basic commodities and hike the ones
on luxury products. This is aimed to increase the overall revenue while
decreasing the burden on the poor. -
The paper also recommends enforcing progressive taxation which can
generate enough revenue to fund India’s health and education systems. For
example, a tax of just five per cent on the top 10 billionaires of the country
can cover tribal healthcare costs for five years.Focus and Factoids by Naomi Fargose.
FACTOIDS
— source ruralindiaonline.org | 15 Jan, 2023