India Can Raise Govt Spending On Health By 50% If Richest People Increase Their Tax By 0.5%
f only 1% of the richest people in India increased their tax by just 0.5% then they could raise enough money to increase government spending on health by 50 percent.
Indian billionaires¡¯ riches grew by Rs 2,200 crore, every day, while the poor continued to become poorer. The growing divide between the rich and poor was supplemented with statistics in a report released by Oxfam titled ¡®Public Good or Private Wealth¡¯.
The report highlights that 13.6 crore Indians, who make up the poorest 10 per cent of the country, continued to remain in debt since 2004 while the rich became richer by 35 per cent in 2018.
The same trend was also observed all over the globe as billionaire fortunes increased by 12 per cent globally last year which is USD 2.5 billion a day! On the other hand, 3.8 billion which make up the poorest lot saw their wealth decline by almost 11 per cent.
The annual report was released a day before the World Economic Forum meeting kicks off in Davos-Klosters, Switzerland. The report said that these alarming figures undermined the global fight against poverty thereby, damaging our economies and fuelling public anger across the globe.
The report said, ¡±It reveals how governments are exacerbating inequality by under-funding public services, such as healthcare and education, on the one hand, while under taxing corporations and the wealthy, and failing to clamp down on tax dodging, on the other.¡±
Not only this, but due to a drastic swell in billionaires¡¯ wealth, women and girls were affected the most by rising economic inequality. Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International, said, ¡°While corporations and the super-rich enjoy low tax bills, millions of girls are denied a decent education and women are dying for lack of maternity care.¡±
18 new Indians joined the billionaire club last year taking the total number of ultra rich people to 119. Not only this but their wealth surpassed the US$400 billion (INR 28000 billion) mark for the first time.
Here Are The Key Figures From The Report:
1) If only 1% of the richest people in India increased their tax by just 0.5% then they could raise enough money to increase government spending on health by 50 percent.
2) While the wealth of top 1% in India increased by 39%, the wealth of bottom 50% increased at only 3%.
3) Not only this but billionaires have enjoyed a tax cut dramatically. For example, the top rate of personal income tax in rich countries fell from 62 percent in 1970 to just 38 percent in 2013. The average rate in poor countries is just 28 percent.
4) Most importantly, India¡¯s combined revenue and capital expenditure of the Centre and State for Medical and Public Health, Sanitation and Water Supply is Rs 2,08,166 crore (INR 2082 billion), less than the wealth of India¡¯s richest billionaire Mukesh Ambani at Rs 2,80,700 crore (INR 2807 billion).
5) Children from poor families in India are three times more likely to die before their first birthday than children from rich families.
Photo: Asian Age
6) The report also drew a connection between women getting affected in both the scenarios. For instance, cutting taxes on wealth predominantly benefits men who own 50 percent more wealth than women globally, and control over 86 percent of corporations. Conversely, when public services are neglected poor women and girls suffer most.
7) When poor families do not have enough money to send girls to school, they are pulled out of educational systems. Women also perform many kinds of unpaid work such as looking after sick relatives and doing household chores.
Oxfam thus noted if the unpaid work done by women across the globe was being performed by one single company then it would have an annual turnover of $10 trillion - 43 times that of Apple, the world¡¯s biggest company.
Oxfam said that it compiled its report after gathering data from various sources. While the share of wealth owned by the poorest half of humanity come from Credit Suisse Wealth Databook and relate to the period June 2017 ¨C June 2018. Figures on the very richest in society are based on more detailed data from the Annual Forbes ¡®Billionaires List¡¯ and relates to the period March 2017 ¨CMarch 2018.
Apart from writing news, Kriti is either listening to some good music or eating some good food. A lover of horror movies and adventurous rides, she is keen on making new friends.
