New Delhi: The gap between the rich and the poor in India has widened further during the Corona period. The richest one percent now own more than 40 percent of the nation’s wealth. On the other hand, the economically weaker 50 percent of the population has only three percent of the total wealth. This has been claimed in a report by Oxfam International. According to the report, imposing a five per cent tax on the ten richest people in India could fully fund getting children back to school. The report states that Rs 1.79 lakh crore can be raised by imposing a one-time tax on only one billionaire Gautam Adani on unrealized gains between 2017-2021. With this amount, more than 50 lakh primary teachers of the country can be given employment for one year.
According to the report, if a one-time tax of 2 per cent is imposed on the entire wealth of India’s billionaires, it will meet the country’s need of Rs 40,423 crore for the next three years to nourish the malnourished people. The report said the levy of a five per cent one-time tax (Rs 1.37 lakh crore) on India’s 10 richest billionaires would exceed the budget of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (Rs 86,200 crore) and the Ministry of AYUSH for 2022-23 by Rs 1.5 lakh. times more. On the issue of gender inequality, the report said that women workers get only 63 paise for every rupee earned by a male worker. Similarly, there is a difference in the remuneration received by Scheduled Castes and rural workers. Scheduled castes get 55 percent and rural laborers get 50 percent of the wages compared to the wages received by the advanced social class.
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Oxfam said that a 2.5 percent tax on the top 100 Indian billionaires or a five percent tax on the top 10 Indian billionaires would provide almost the entire amount needed to get children back to school. Oxfam said the report blends qualitative and quantitative information to explore the impact of inequality in India. Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behad said the country’s marginalised, Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, women and workers in the informal sector are victims of a vicious cycle that ensures the survival of the richest.
The poor are paying more taxes, spending more on essential goods and services than the rich, he said. The time has come to tax the rich and ensure that they pay their fair share. Behad urged the Union Finance Minister to introduce progressive tax measures such as wealth tax and inheritance tax. He said that these taxes have historically proved effective in tackling inequality.
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This happened for the first time in 25 years.
Oxfam said that the richest one percent globally amassed almost twice as much wealth as the rest of the world’s population over the past two years. According to the report, the wealth of billionaires is increasing by $2.7 billion a day, while at least 1.7 billion workers now live in countries where the rate of inflation exceeds the increase in wages. The richest one percent in the world gained nearly half of all new wealth during the past decade. For the first time in the last 25 years, extreme wealth and extreme poverty have increased together.
Source: navbharattimes.indiatimes.com
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