PROSPERITY FOR ALL

The liberalization policies India has been following for the last about two-and-a-half decades have certainly increased the wealth generation in the country. However, as India’s economy grew rapidly, the inequality between the richest and the poorest rose. There is no doubt that lives of people have changed for better because of liberalisation but the promise of poverty eradication still remains to be fulfilled. The gains have thrown new concerns of exclusion which need to be addressed. The rise and rise of a small pool of India’s super rich population has worsened this divide, the ultra-wealthy alone, comprising 1% of the country’s population.

In the last few decades, the rich in India have been getting richer and the poor have been getting poorer. According to the Oxfam survey report released in 2018, the richest 1% cornered 73% of wealth generated in India in 2017 and the rich-poor divide is widening and 67 crore Indians comprising the population’s poorest half saw their wealth rise by just 1%.

A strong need is felt for a greater focus towards more equitable distribution of wealth in the society, paving the way for prosperity for all in place of prosperity for only a fortunate few. For facilitating this, encouragement of labour-intensive sectors that will create more jobs, more social welfare and protection measures, rationalization and streamlining of various of pension schemes, extending pension benefits to the deprived sections, increased investments in agriculture, bringing more discipline in the financial sector, mercilessly dealing with income tax evasion and cornering of wealth through illegal and unlawful means and incentivising honest sections of tax payers etc. are some of the necessities.