Inequality In India: 10% Control 57% Of National Income

by M. Nuruddin Edited by Arjun Banerjee 2 years ago Views 5130

Inequality In India At Historic High
India is a very poor and unequal country. This can be estimated form thew fact that 10% people in the country control over 57% of the total national income. Of these, the top 1% own 22% of national wealth.

The average income for the adult population of India is ₹2,04,200, whereas 50% of the total population earns ₹53,610 annually on average. You can understand the state of inequality in India by observing that 10% of the total 139 crore population of India has an average income of ₹11,56,520 which is greater than the average income of 50%, i.e., 7 crore people by ₹1,112,910


Income Inequality At Historic High

Income inequality has been rising ever since Independence. The rich are getting richer, the middle class is shifting towards lower income, and extreme poverty remains prevalent. The present situation is comparable to the British Raj period (1858-1947) when the 10% population controlled 50% of the national income.

After socialist-inspired policies like five-year plans were implemented, this figure came down to around 35-40%, but these gains were rapidly erased by liberalization from 1980’s onwards, as stated by the World Inequality Report and the country was back on a trajectory of extreme inequality.

The report states that the policy shift enabled the top 1% to get even richer and the total income of the country was concentrated in their hands. The middle class saw slow or stagnated growth, and now the country has shifted to the category of ‘poor’ instead of ‘developing’ countries.

He government does not release accurate figures on inequality or poverty, and that makes any kind of analysis harder. It can safely be estimated that the data for poverty officially available does not show the complete picture which is inarguably worse.

Wealth-Related Inequalities

India’s average household wealth is ₹9,83,010 which is less than half of the world’s most populous country China at ₹22,27,500. It is astonishing that the bottom 50% households have an average wealth of just ₹66,000 which is negligible indeed.

Compared to the average income of the top 1 and 10 per cent of the country, even the middle class is poor. It has 29.5% of the entire national wealth. Whereas, the top 10% of the country have 65% of its wealth, and the top 1% control 22%.

Gender Inequalities In Income

Apart from class-based inequalities, there is also the wide discrepancy between men and women. It shows that women have not been given their fair due after 75 years of Independence. India’s share of females in labour income is one of the lowest in the world, at 18.3% in 2020 which is lower than China’s 21% and only higher than middle-eastern Arab countries which are not particularly known for a good track record on gender rights and equality.

Read The Original Report Here 

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