Bhubaneswar: A meet followed by discussions on the widening gap between the rich and poor on wealth sharing in the country was organised by Oxfam at Press Club of Odisha here Monday.
Present at the meet, former Finance Minister of Odisha, Panchanan Kanungo, and erstwhile senior bureaucrats shared their viewpoints on the rising inequality in the society which has resulted ‘rich getting richer and poor becoming poorer.’
According to an Oxfam report, the fortune of billionaire in India increased by 35% in 2018 – Rs 2,200 crore a day, while 13.6 crore Indians continued to remain in debt since 2004.
The report also insinuated how the government is aggravating inequality by underfunding public services vis-à-vis lowering tax rates for corporations and the wealthy. It stated that India’s combined revenue and capital expenditure of the Centre and states for public services was Rs 2.08 crore, which is less than the wealth of India’s richest billionaire.
“It’s outrageous that a few wealthy individuals are amassing major share of India’s wealth, while the poor are struggling for a basic meal. If this difference continues it will lead to a complete collapse of the social and democratic structures in the country,” said Amitabh Behar, CEO of Oxfam.
Behar also said that poor women and girls suffer most when public services are neglected. “Girls are forced to drop out from schools and women clock up hours of unpaid works looking after sick relatives when healthcare isn’t efficient enough,” Behar added.
While India added 18 new billionaires last year, which only constituted to 1% of the total population, their wealth increased by 39%. On the contrary wealth of bottom 50% plummeted to a dismal 3%. The global phenomenon echoes the same voice as rate of personal income tax in developed countries fell from 62% in 1970 to just 13% in 2013.
To bridge the gap between the rich and poor, Behar suggested that government spending on health could be increased by 50% if only the 1% population is made to pay just 0.5% extra tax on their wealth.
“Economic inequality plagued by socio-economic factors need to be tackled at war footing. The government should ensure that the corporations pay their fair share of tax, which should be invested in to strengthen public healthcare and education,” Behar said.
