India added 40 billionaires but number of poor doubled: Oxfam

NEW DELHI: The global Oxfam Davos report of 2022, said that India’s richest have more than doubled their fortunes and poverty has worsened during the COVID-19 crisis. Last year, the country gained 40 billionaires, bringing the total to 142. They have a total fortune of almost $720 billion, which is more than the poorest 40 pe cent of the population.

The latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index had established that wealth had surged globally during the pandemic as the value of everything from stock prices to crypto and commodities had seen a jump. Last year, the world’s 500 wealthiest persons increased their net worth by more than $1 trillion.

The report mentioned that state policies including the abolition of a wealth tax in 2016, steep cuts in corporate levies, and an increase in indirect taxation are among the factors that helped make the rich, richer. Whereas, the national minimum wage has remained at 178 rupees ($2.4) a day since 2020. Citing the World Food Programme, the Oxfam report said that India is home to a quarter of the world’s undernourished people.

The report mentioned how the taxation policy of India is pro-rich and has deprived India’s states of important fiscal resources – both particularly damaging in the context of the COVID-19 crisis. The report recommended that the government impose a 1% surcharge on the richest 10% of the population to invest in health and education. It noted that the wealth of India’s 10 richest billionaires would be enough to fund the school and higher education of the nation’s children for more than 25 years.

The report established that 84% of India’s households are suffering a decline in income since the start of the pandemic. This has made India in line with sub-Saharan Africa accounting for the highest increase in poverty.