The widening gulf!

The gap between the rich and the poor is continuously widening in the country. According to the latest data of the World Inequality Report, which has been released by a France based Lab, only one per cent of the people account for about 20 per cent of the country's total national income in the year 2021. On the other hand, the lower half of the population is getting only 13.1 per cent of the total national income. According to this report, the benefits of economic reforms and liberalisation in India have been received by only the top one per cent of the economically well-off people. The people of the lower strata have become poorer because of this.

This report keeps a close watch on the development of inequality in the world. It has been said in this report that the gap between poverty and inequality in India is continuously widening. The report also said that in 2021, the top 10 per cent of the rich have 57 per cent of the total income.

The national average income of the adult population in India in the year 2021 is Rs 2,04,200 per annum. However, the report also said that the national average income serves as a cover for inequality figures. This hides the real state of inequality and the government and a certain chunk of the population is happy to see the average income figures because, with the help of such figures, they hide their inefficiency.

The analysis of the report shows that India is one of the countries with the highest inequality in the world. Among the BRICS countries, South Africa and Brazil have higher income inequality than India. The income gap between the top 10 per cent and the bottom 50 per cent in South Africa is 63 per cent, while in Brazil the gap is 29 per cent. The difference between China and Russia is 14 per cent, while globally the rich 10 per cent of the total population still account for 52 per cent of global income, the bottom 50 per cent of the population has only 8.5 per cent of the income.

If seen, the current situation of inequality in India has remained the same since the year 2018, because in 2018 too, as per World Inequality Report, the top one per cent of India occupied 22 per cent of the total income, while in 2014, the top 10 per cent of the rich had occupied about 56 per cent of the national income. These figures show that the distribution of income between the rich and the poor has remained more or less at the same level since 2018.

Despite this, it will not be an exaggeration to recognise that the wealth inequality in India is widening. Today, 50 per cent of the families of the lower strata have almost negligible wealth. The middle class is also relatively poor and holds 29.5 per cent of the total wealth, while the top 10 per cent have 65 per cent and the top one per cent have 33 per cent of the total wealth.

The average wealth of the people in the country is USD 4,200, which is about Rs 3,45,000 considering the current value of one dollar to be Rs 75. The average wealth of the middle class is USD 26,400, which is approximately Rs 19,80,000. The top 10 per cent have an average of USD 2,31,300, which is approximately Rs 1,73,47,500, and the top one per cent have an average of USD 6.1 million, which is about Rs 45,75,00,000.

According to this report, the level of inequality in India is higher than in the British period. At that time the top 10 per cent of the population accounted for about 50 per cent of the total national income. After independence, this share came down to 35 to 40 per cent.

Inequality of income and wealth has increased across the world due to liberalisation policies since the mid-eighties. The top one per cent benefited the most from economic reforms, while the middle and low-income groups benefited less and poverty remained at the same level. It is noteworthy that in this report questions have also been raised on the transparency of the data released by the government.

States like Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh are significantly affected by the problem of malnutrition. Due to poverty, malnutrition cases are increasing continuously in these states. According to the 2011 census, there were 472 million children in the country, out of which 97 million were malnourished. At present, this number has increased even more. After being exposed to malnutrition, the ability of children to fight diseases or their body's immunity gradually weakens and the child succumbs to diseases like measles, pneumonia, jaundice, malaria etc. India's position is very bad among countries with a high population of malnourished children.

About 833 million people reside in rural India. There is no other option except agriculture in the form of employment in the rural areas. In the absence of cottage and medium industries, the dependence of the people is on agriculture only, due to which the situation of pseudo-employment remains in the agriculture sector. Many people are working together to do the work of one person. It has become difficult today to arrange bread for two times from farming.

On the other hand, in this country with a population of about 139 crores, the dream of most people's sweet home is not being fulfilled. Most of the people are going to die without their own house. In the lifetime, the home of such people are roads, footpaths, parks, uninhabited areas etc. Oxfam's Time to Care study also says that Indian billionaires have more wealth than the total budget of the country. These one per cent of the richest people have more than four times more wealth than 70 per cent of the country's low-income population, i.e., 973 million people.

In such a situation, it is necessary that by showing sensitivity on the World Inequality Report, the government should take effective measures to bridge the widening gap between the poor and the rich, otherwise in the coming days this gap will become even wider, which will not be good for the poor and the government.

Views expressed are personal