The rich get richer

INDIA is on a dangerous growth path as the rich are getting richer and the poor are becoming poorer. It is not a cliche, anymore. The World Economic Forum’s latest “Inclusive Development Index” has found India at the 62nd position — 15 notches below Pakistan. It means that the benefit of  economic prosperity is cornered by a miniscule minority, leaving the majority high and dry. The gap between the rich and the poor is widening not only in income distribution, but also in getting access to modern education, quality healthcare, better living conditions and rewarding employment opportunities. This report also coincides with an Oxfam study claiming that India’s richest 1 per cent had cornered almost three-fourth wealth created last year. The two independent reports paint a sorry picture of India’s policy of distributive justice.  

Growing inequality is also a global menace. Apparently, 42 people hold the same wealth as almost half of the world’s population. But, an egalitarian republic like India cannot afford to be in this league. The Indian Government has its constitutional obligation. It is bound to secure “economic” justice for its people and ensure them equality of “status” and “opportunity”. It is easy for the incumbent to blame its predecessors for allowing the inequality to grow in the last seven decades, but it cannot plead innocence after crippling the informal sector with its two misadventures — demonetisation and the hasty implementation of GST.

The government is doing its bit to revive the economy. After a gap of two decades, an Indian PM has joined global honchos at the WEF to hard sell “Make in India”. The reality, however, remians painful. Foreign investors still see India as one of the promising markets. The developed world refrains from investing in a place with challenging social equilibrium and enormous economic disparity. The government must look inward and review its socio-economic policies. It must harness local entrepreneurship and support micro, mini and medium enterprises to build a solid economic foundation to fulfil aspirations of millions of marginalised Indians. Immediately, it can reduce the burden of indirect taxes on the poor and compensate for the same from the rich to have social balance