73% Of India’s Wealth Is With The Richest 1%; Income Disparity Widening!

Oxfam, which is an international confederation of charitable organizations focussing on the aspect of poverty and the rising income disparity has released their latest survey report titled  ‘Reward Work, Not Wealth’, and the findings are quite shocking.

The timing of this report is crucial, as every year, it is released just hours before World’s biggest and strongest leaders meet at Davos, Switzerland to discuss the economic outlook of the world.

Reward Work, Not Wealth

Oxfam’s report mentions India prominently. As per the report, the richest 1% in India grabbed 73% of nation’s wealth in 2017, which means that income inequality in India increased at an alarming level.

Globally, a new Billionaire was created almost every two days in 2017, and as per Oxfam, this is not a healthy sign.

Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International said,

“The billionaire boom is not a sign of a thriving economy but a symptom of a failing economic system,”

Oxfam India CEO Nisha Agrawal expressed her dismay on the fact that in India, wealth is now concentrated among few individuals, creating a massive divide which can eventually prove costly for the nation.

She said,

“Those working hard, growing food for the country, building infrastructure, working in factories are struggling to fund their child’s education, buy medicines for family members and manage two meals a day. The growing divide undermines democracy and promotes corruption and cronyism,”

Income Disparity: Oxfam Report Highlights

Here are few major highlights from the report:

• The richest 1% of Indians are now holding 73% of India’s wealth; last year, the richest 1% held 58% of the wealth (globally, it was 50% last year).
• India’s poorest half, which is 67 crore Indians saw their wealth rise by mere 1% in 2017.
• The richest 1% of Indians saw their wealth rise by Rs 20.9 lakh crore, which is same as India’s budget last year.
• A typical Indian in the rural area will take 941 years to reach the same level of income as that of a top paid executive at a leading garment factory in India!
• In India, a total of 17 new Billionaires were created in 2017, taking the total to 101.
• Overall, Indian billionaires witnessed their wealth increase by Rs 4.89 lakh crore, an amount which is sufficient to fund 85% of all states’ budget for health programmes for a year
• It will take just 17.5 days of work for a top paid executive at any leading garment firm to match what a minimum wage worker in rural India will earn in lifetime

You can find the complete report here.

Will Davos Summit be able to scoop out any solid strategy to eradicate poverty across the world?

We will hope it does, but in reality, the chances are very little.

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