The State of Inequality in India Report released
Recently the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has released the ‘Status of Inequality in India Report’.
This report has been prepared by the Institute for Competitiveness. This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the trend and depth of inequality in India. This report collects information on inequalities in health, education, family characteristics, income distribution and labor market dynamics.
Inequality refers to the unequal distribution of resources and opportunities. It promotes poverty and deprivation.
The report is based on data from the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS), the National Family and Health Survey (NFHS) and the Integrated District Education Information System (UDISE+).
Key findings of the report
- An Indian earning a monthly salary of Rs 25,000 is among the top 10% earners in the country.
- The trickle down principle has failed in India. The income of the top 1% of the country’s earners increased by 15% during the year 2017-18 to the year 2019-2020, while the income of the bottom 10% decreased by 1%.
- In addition, the top 1% of earners earn 6-7% of the country’s total income. At the same time, the top 10% of earners account for one-third of the total income.
- The position of employment (2019-20) has been as follows-
- Self-employed workers: 45.78%,
- Salaried Employees: 33.5% and
- Informal workers: 20.71%.
- Significant improvement has been recorded in health, education and family conditions. The number of health centers, water and sanitation facilities in schools, safe drinking water and electricity supply to homes have improved.
- Nutritional deficiency still remains a major concern.
Key Recommendations-
- Knowing the situation and how to promote overall wellness requires regular practice. In this, basic learning ability and numerical index and ease of living index should be encouraged.
- To improve the condition of the poor, ensure equitable access to education with long-term development and create more jobs.
- A higher percentage of expenditure should be allocated to social services and the social sector. This will protect the most vulnerable populations from sudden hazards and prevent them from falling into poverty.
- Extremely strong levels should be established. This will make it clear the difference from one class to another. With this, those going out of a square and those entering it will be monitored properly.
- The income gap can be narrowed by raising the minimum income and introducing universal basic income.
- Schemes like MNREGA should be started in cities also. MGNREGA is demand based, and provides guarantee of employment.
Source – The Hindu
