By Syed Ali Mujtaba
Every Indian knows that the ten years of BJP rule have created a religious polarization in Indian society, little they know is that the BJP rule has made India stand out as a “poor and very unequal country in the world.
According to the World Inequality Report 2022, the affluent elite of India which is about the top 10 percent of the population holds about 57 percent of the total national income. In contrast, the bottom 50 percent’s share is just 13 percent in 2021, says the report.
Authored by economist and co-director of the World Inequality Lab, Lucas Chancel, along with economists Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez, and Gabriel Zucman say, “If India is excluded from the global analysis, then the global bottom 50 percent income share has slightly increased in 2020” but because of India, the Inequality index has been pulled down.
According to the report, India’s middle class is relatively poor with an average wealth of only Rs 7, 23,930 or 29.5 percent of the total national income. Whereas the top 10 percent own 65 percent average wealth is Rs 63, 54,070. The average wealth of 33 per cent is Rs 3, 24, 49,360.
The average annual national income of the Indian adult is Rs 2, 04,200 in 2021. The bottom 50 percent is Rs 53,610. In contrast, the top 10 percent wealth is over 20 times more and is pegged at 11, 66,520, says the report.
The average household wealth in India is Rs 9, 83,010, with the bottom 50 percent owning almost nothing, with an average wealth of 6 percent of the total Rs 66,280.
The quality of inequality data released by the Indian government has seriously deteriorated, says the report stating that making it particularly difficult to assess recent inequality changes in India.
This story was originally published in muslimmirror.com. Read the full story here.