Economic inequality, India’s biggest challenge, says Sainath

Economic inequality is the biggest challenged faced by the country, said journalist and Magsaysay Award winner P. Sainath here on Saturday.

He was speaking at the release of Bombay to Mumbai, a book authored by senior journalist Ignatius Pereira and published by the Kerala Media Academy. “While there were 98 billionaires in the country in 2020, 42 new billionaires came up in 2020-21, a period that saw the GDP falling by 7.7%,” he said.

Mr. Sainath added that the farmers’ protest was not only to protect their rights but also to protect the fundamental right guaranteed under Article 32 of the Constitution.

M. Mukesh, MLA, Food Safety Commission Chairman K. V. Mohankumar, Kollam Press Club president G. Biju, secretary Sanal D. Prem, Kerala Media Academy chairman R.S. Babu, secretary Anil Bhaskar, and Patricia John, Head of Malayalam Department, Fatima Mata National College, spoke.