Oxfam study shows rich got richer during pandemic

India’s 100 high billionaires have seen their fortunes improve by ₹12,97,822 crore since March final yr when the COVID-19 pandemic hit the nation and this quantity is sufficient to give 13.8 crore poorest Indians a cheque for ₹94,045 every.

The newest India complement of the Oxfam report ‘The Inequality Virus’ mentioned it will take an unskilled employee 10,000 years to make what businessman Mukesh Ambani made in an hour during the pandemic and three years to make what he made in a second.

The report has been launched on the opening day of the World Economic Forum’s ‘Davos Dialogues’.

Calling the coronavirus pandemic the world’s worst public well being disaster in 100 years, the report mentioned it triggered an financial disaster comparable in scale solely with the Great Depression of the Nineteen Thirties.

The new international survey of 295 economists from 79 international locations, commissioned by Oxfam, reveals that 87% of respondents, together with Jeffrey Sachs, Jayati Ghosh and Gabriel Zucman, count on an “increase” or a “major increase” in revenue inequality of their nation because of the pandemic.

“India has the world’s fourth lowest health budget in terms of its share of government expenditure,” it mentioned.

“If India’s top 11 billionaires are taxed at just 1 per cent on the increase in their wealth during the pandemic, it will be enough to increase the allocation of Jan Aushadi Scheme by 140 times, which provides affordable medicines to the poor and marginalized.”

India launched one of many earliest and most stringent lockdowns within the face of the pandemic and its enforcement introduced the economic system to a standstill, triggering unemployment, starvation, misery migration and untold hardship in its wake, the report mentioned.

“The rich were able to escape the pandemic’s worst impact; and while the white-collar workers isolated themselves and worked from home, a majority of the not-so-fortunate Indians lost their livelihood,” it mentioned.

The report famous that billionaires comparable to Gautam Adani, Shiv Nadar, Cyrus Poonawalla, Uday Kotak, Azim Premji, Sunil Mittal, Radhakrishan Damani, Kumar Manglam Birla and Laxmi Mittal working in sectors comparable to coal, oil, telecom, medicines, pharmaceutical, schooling and retail elevated their wealth exponentially since March 2020 when India introduced world’s largest COVID-19 lockdown and economic system got here to standstill.

On the opposite hand, knowledge has proven that 170,000 individuals misplaced their jobs each hour within the month of April 2020, the report mentioned.

Findings of the report confirmed that rich got richer during the pandemic.

“Data shows what Ambani earned during the pandemic would keep the 40 crore informal workers that are at risk of falling into poverty due to COVID-19 above the poverty line for at least 5 months,” the report mentioned.

The wealth of Indian billionaires elevated by 35% during the lockdown and by 90% since 2009 to $422.9 billion, rating India sixth on this planet after the US, China, Germany, Russia and France, it mentioned.

In reality, the report mentioned the rise in wealth of the highest 11 billionaires of India during the pandemic may maintain the agricultural job scheme MGNREGA for 10 years or the Health Ministry for 10 years.

Noting that the casual sector had been the worst hit, the report mentioned out of a complete 12.2 crore individuals who misplaced their jobs, 75 per cent, which accounts for 9.2 crore jobs, have been misplaced within the casual sector.

“The mass exodus on foot triggered by the sudden lockdown and the inhuman beating, disinfection and quarantine conditions the informal workers were subjected to turned a health emergency into a humanitarian crisis,” it mentioned.

“Over 300 informal workers died due to the lockdown, with reasons ranging from starvation, suicides, exhaustion, road and rail accidents, police brutality and denial of timely medical care. The National Human Rights Commission recorded over 2,582 cases of human rights violation as early as in the month of April 2020,” the report added.

It famous that the lengthy disruption of education risked doubling the speed of out of faculty, particularly among the many poor.

“Only 4% of rural households had a computer and less than 15% rural households had an internet connection,” it mentioned.

On well being inequalities, the report mentioned solely 6% of the poorest 20% has entry to non-shared sources of improved sanitation, in comparison with 93.4% of the highest 20%. It added that 59.6% of India’s inhabitants lives in a room or much less.

The report mentioned 1.7 crore girls misplaced their job in April 2020 and unemployment for girls rose by 15% from a pre-lockdown stage.

Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar mentioned if not addressed instantly, the disaster may worsen.

“Extreme inequality is not inevitable, but a policy choice. The fight against inequality must be at the heart of economic rescue and recovery efforts now,” Mr. Behar mentioned.

“Newer and creative ways of catering to the needs of the masses is possible if governments are committed to the needs of its people. It is time for the government of India to take specific and concrete actions that will build a better future, more equal and just a future for everyone,” he mentioned.