Inequality Kills 2022: India Supplement

Published by Oxfam India on January 16, 2022, this is the India supplement of the global Inequality Kills report. This brief has been written by Oxfam India researchers Apoorva Mahendru, Apoorva Sekher, Mayurakshi Dutta, Pravas Ranjan Mishra and Varna Sri Raman. The brief highlights government policies that favour accumulation of wealth by a select few. It notes the failure of the State in providing adequate social safety nets to the rest of the population, especially in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic. Privatisation of health and education has progressed while government expenditure in the same areas has proved insufficient, the brief notes.  The brief advocates for a temporary one per cent surcharge on the richest 10 per cent of the Indian population. This is expected to raise around Rs. 8.7 lakh crores which could fund government spending on education and health. This 30-page brief contains an executive summary followed by seven sections: Inside India’s inequality crisis: A country of billionaires (section 1); Benefits for billionaires and the tax pandemic for India’s poor (section 2); Deprioritizing social spending (section 3); Privatization of public goods (section 4); Getting an expensive education (section 5); Receiving high cost healthcare (section 6); and Way forward (section 7).