Oxfam report defies Inclusive India notion; highlights stark paradoxes of Indian economy

Oxfam, a Nairobi based confederation of 21 independent charitable organisations has busted the grandstanding assertions of the government. The report titled- 'Survival of the richest: The India Supplement has shed light on the fact that the majority of the wealth generation has been cornered by a miniscule minority of the country.'

Some of the startling facts in the report are

• The top 1% of country owned more than 40.5% of its total wealth in 2021.

• More than 40% of the wealth created in the country from 2012 to 2021 went to top 1% of the country

• The bottom 50% could corner only 3% of the wealth generated in the same period

• In 2017, 73% of the wealth generated went to the richest 1%

• The top 10% of the Indian population holds 77% of the total national wealth

• 670 million Indians who comprise the poorest half of the population saw only a 1% increase in their wealth.

Billionaires

There are 119 billionaires in India that was just 9 in 2000.

Healthcare: pushing the people into poverty

The report highlighted the fact that the costly healthcare system pushes about 63 million people to poverty. Mentioning the case of a hospital in Bihar, the report says that the Healthcare system in India is “under-staffed” and “ill-equipped”

Subverting the tax-payers narrative

Busting the myth about tax paying structure in India, the report say that 64.3% of the GST is coming from the bottom 50% of the people and the richest 10% account for only 3-4%.

Remedy: Taxing the rich

The report makes note of the fact that the government slashed the corporate tax slabs from 30% to 22% and estimates that the revenue foregone in terms of incentive and tax exemptions to corporates was more than 1,03,285.54 crore. This is the equivalent to the allocation towards Mahatama Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) for 1.4 years.”

Last year Oxfam released a report titled India Discrimination Report 2022 found that on an average men earned rs 4,000 more than women and that average salary of a Dalit was Rs 5,000 less than those belonging to other countries.

Social Activist and MLA Jignesh Mevani condemned the government on the basis of the report “21 billionaires have more wealth than 70 crore people. Top 1% of the people have more than 40% of the wealth against 3% wealth with the bottom 50% of the population. Is this Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas? asked Mevani in a tweet

Clearly, the report is a searing indictment of the government which swears by inclusive governance. The report also raises valid questions on the figures provided by the government to back the claim of Good Governance.