As the World Economic Forum begins in Davos on Monday, Oxfam has pointed out “the stark reality of inequality” contributing to the death of at least 21,000 people each day, globally. It recommended taxing “extreme wealth” and using that money to fund social sectors such as health and education.

Amitabh Behar, Chief Executive Officer, Oxfam India said in a statement, “..It has never been so important to start righting the wrongs of this obscene inequality by targeting extreme wealth through taxation and getting that money back into the real economy to save lives.”

When 84 per cent of households in the country suffered a decline in their income in a year marked by tremendous loss of life and livelihoods, the number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 to 142, Oxfam India said in its ‘Inequality Kills’ report. The collective wealth of India’s 100 richest people hit a record high of Rs 57.3 lakh crore ($ 775 billion) in 2021.

The charity organistion’s report advocates a one per cent surcharge on the richest 10 per cent of the Indian population to fund higher investments in school education, universal healthcare, and social security benefits like maternity leave, paid leave and pension for all Indians. “One per cent wealth tax on the 98 richest billionaire families would finance Ayushman Bharat for more than seven years,” it pointed out.

“In India, during the pandemic (since March 2020, through to November 30th, 2021) the wealth of billionaires increased from INR 23.14 lakh crore (USD 313 billion) to INR 53.16 lakh crore (USD 719 billion). More than 4.6 crore Indians meanwhile are estimated to have fallen into extreme poverty in 2020 (nearly half of the global new poor according to the United Nations.) The stark wealth inequality in India is a result of an economic system rigged in favour of the super-rich over the poor and marginalised,” Oxfam said.

“India can show the world that democratic systems are capable of wealth redistribution and inclusive growth where no one is left behind. India’s fight against inequality and poverty must be supported by the billionaires who made record profits in the country during the pandemic,” the Oxfam India chief said.

UNDERFUNDING FOR PUBLIC SERVICES

Against the backdrop of the upcoming Union Budget, the report pointed out that health sector spending as a percentage of GDP remained “abysmally low at 1.2 to 1.6 per cent and increased only 0.09 per cent over the last 22 years.”

Further, the report said, the policy push for privatisation of healthcare and education in India were acting as enablers of inequality. “Data from the National Sample Survey (NSS) (2017-18) shows that Out-of-Pocket Expenditure (OOPE) in private hospitals is almost six times that in public hospitals for inpatient care, and two or three times higher for outpatient care. The average OOPE in India is at 62.67 per cent, while the global average is at 18.12 per cent.”

The exhaustive report recommends, among other things, a temporary one per cent surcharge on the richest 10 per cent population to help raise an additional INR 8.7 lakh crore, which could be utilised to increase the education and health budget. “The primary outcome of the pandemic must be a quality, publicly funded and publicly delivered healthcare system that works for all and not just the rich,” the note said. It also pointed out the need to track the policy impact by improving mechanisms for its measurement.

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