Inequality in India is at an all-time high this year. It has been observed the country’s poor, whose incomes were rising steadily since 1995, have seen a fall in income of 53% over the past five years. During the same period, the richest 20% of households saw their incomes increase by 39%.

In 2015-16, the annual income of the poorest 20% of households in India was ₹1.37 lakh which came down to ₹65,000 in 2020-21. The incomes of lower-middle income households also went down from ₹1.85 lakh to ₹1.25 lakh in the same period, representing a decline of 32.4% over five years.

The ICE 2021 survey by PRICE shows that the income of the richest households in the country increased their income by 39% in five years, going from ₹5.26 lakh to ₹7.31 lakh annually. The incomes of households in the upper-middle income category also showed an increase of 7%.

The report also tells us that the poor are increasing shifting from rural to urban areas. In 2016, among the 20% poorest households in the country, 90% were living in rural areas, whereas this proportion has changed to 70%, while urba poverty has increased from 10% to 30% during the same time. This shows that even as India is urbanizing, it is not able to leave behind crushing poverty simultaneously.