Brain Booster for UPSC & State PCS Examination (Topic: The Inequality Virus Report)

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The Inequality Virus Report

Recently, the ‘Inequality Virus Report’, released by Oxfam International, has found that the Covid pandemic deeply exacerbated existing inequalities in India and around the world.
Oxfam India’s findings are part of the Oxfam International report released on the opening day of the World Economic Forum’s “Davos Dialogues”.

As the pandemic stalled the economy, forcing millions of poor Indians out of jobs, the richest billionaires in India increased their wealth by 35 per cent.
The wealth of Indian billionaires increased by 35 per cent during the lockdown and by 90 per cent since 2009 to $422.9 billion ranking India sixth in the world after US, China, Germany, Russia and France.
Since March, as the government announced possibly the strictest lockdown anywhere in the world, India’s top 100 billionaires saw their fortunes increase by Rs 12.97 trillion.
In stark contrast, 170,000 people lost their jobs every hour in the month of April 2020.

India’s large informal workforce was the worst hit as it made up 75 per cent of the 122 million jobs lost.
Informal workers had relatively fewer opportunities to work from home and suffered more job loss compared to the formal sector.
The 40-50 million seasonal migrant workers, typically engaged working in construction sites, factories etc. were particularly distressed.

Over the past year as education shifted online, India saw the digital divide worsening inequalities.
On the one hand, private providers experienced exponential growth yet, on the other, just 3 per cent of the poorest 20 per cent of Indian households had access to a computer and just 9 per cent had access to the internet.

Since India does not report case data desegregated by socio-economic or social categories, it is difficult to gauge the distribution of the disease amongst various communities.
But India currently has the world’s second-largest cumulative number of COVID-19 positive cases and globally, the poor, marginalised and vulnerable communities have higher rates of COVID-19 prevalence.
The spread of disease was swift among poor communities, often living in crammed areas with poor sanitation and using shared common facilities such as toilets and water points.
Only 6 per cent of the poorest 20 per cent households had access to non-shared sources of improved sanitation, compared to 93 per cent of the top 20 per cent households in India.
In terms of caste, just 37.2 per cent of SC households and 25.9 per cent of ST households had access to non-shared sanitation facilities, compared to 65.7 per cent for the general population.

The unemployment rate among women rose from already high 15 per cent before Covid to 18 per cent.
This increase in unemployment of women can result in a loss to India’s GDP of about 8 per cent or $218 billion.
Of the women who retained their jobs, as many 83% were subjected to a cut in income according to a survey by the Institute of Social Studies Trust.
Beyond income and job losses, poorer women also suffered health wise because of the disruption in regular health services and Anganwadi centres.
The pandemic also fuelled domestic violence against women. As of November 30, 2020, cases of domestic violence rose by almost 60% over the past 12 months.

There is an urgent need for policymakers to tax the wealthy individuals and rich corporates and use that money to invest in free quality public services and social protection to support everyone, from cradle to grave.
Reducing inequalities is very important but it should be a medium-term target. Between growth and distribution, India must get the sequencing right.
India needs to grow first before it can distribute. Otherwise, it can get stuck in a low-income equilibrium.