The top 1 percent of India’s population has one-fifth of the nation’s income, while 50% of the country’s population has only 13% of the country’s income.
Author
Deepanshu Mohan, Associate Professor of Economics and Director, Centre for New Economics Studies (CNES), Jindal School of Liberal Arts and Humanities, O.P. Jindal Global University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
Summary
The Rashtriya Sevak Sangh (RSS) recently flagged issues of poverty, unemployment, and rising inequality in the country, arguing for the need to create a robust environment for entrepreneurship so that “job seekers become job providers.”
“The poverty in the country is standing like a demon in front of us. That 20 crore people are still below poverty line is a figure that should make us very sad. As many as 23 crore people have less than Rs 375 income per day. There are four crore unemployed people in the country. The labour force survey says we have an unemployment rate of 7.6 percent,” said RSS General Secretary Dattatreya Hosabale during a webinar organised by RSS-affiliate Swadeshi Jagran Manch for its Swavlambi Bharat Abhiyan.
‘Access Inequality’ Is a Glaring Issue in Modern India
Hosabale highlighted the other major issue, of rising economic inequality across India.“One figure says that India is among the top six economies of the world. But is this a good situation? The top 1 percent of India’s population has one-fifth (20%) of the nation’s income. At the same time, 50% of the country’s population has only 13% of the country’s income,” he points.
Expanding on this, Hosabale further discussed the issue of rising ‘Access Inequality’, adding, “A large part of the country still does not have access to clean water and nutritious food. Civil strife and poor level of education are also a reason for poverty. That is why a New Education Policy has been ushered in. Even climate change is a reason for poverty. And at places, the inefficiency of the government is a reason for poverty.
According to Hosabale, the idea that only urban spaces will have jobs has emptied villages and turned urban lives into hell.
Published in: The Quint
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