GUWAHATI : The combined total wealth of 63 Indian billionaires is higher than the total Union Budget of India for the fiscal year 2018-19 which was at INR 24.42 lakh crore, revealed a new report from Oxfam on January 20, Monday ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland.
“The richest 1 per cent in India has more wealth than the 4.6 billion people who make up for the 60 percent of the country’s population,” a study ‘Time to Care’ said on Monday ahead of the 50th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF).
The issues of income and gender inequality are expected to figure prominently in discussions at the five-day summit of the WEF, starting January 20.
"The gap between rich and poor can't be resolved without deliberate inequality-busting policies," said Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar, who is representing the Oxfam confederation this year.
Governments must prioritize care as being as important as all other sectors in order to build more human economies that work for everyone, not just a fortunate few, Behar said.
“Governments created the inequality crisis —they must act now to end it. They must ensure corporations and wealthy individuals pay their fair share of tax and increase investment in public services and infrastructure,” said Behar.
