Congress president Rahul Gandhi took to Twitter to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi why 1% of India’s population had 73% of the country’s wealth. This was soon after the Prime Minister addressed the plenary session of the World Economic Forum at Davos.
“Dear PM, Welcome to Switzerland! Please tell DAVOS why 1% of India's population gets 73% of its wealth? I am attaching a report for your ready reference,” Mr. Gandhi tweeted on Tuesday.
He attached a news report that quoted an Oxfam survey which claimed that 73% of the wealth generated in 2017 was accumulated by only 1% of the population. The survey, which forms a part of the World Inequality Report, also pointed out that 67 crore Indians saw their wealth grow only by 1% in the last one year.
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The Congress has always accused the Modi government of being pro-corporate and Mr. Gandhi’s tweet seemed to allude to that once again.
Former Commerce Minister Anand Sharma said the Prime Minister should also speak about the poor people who are at the bottom. “There is no investment in the country at present, there is dearth of employment. One percent people hold 73% wealth of the nation. If the Prime Minister speaks of them and not the poor, it’s not right. We request the PM to address the issues faced by poor too, such as unemployment and disparity,” he said.
Responding to Mr. Modi’s observation that the world should function jointly with fractures, Mr. Sharma said, “Fractures have widened within the country in the last few years. The message will hold value only when the government takes steps for the world to see that what the PM spoke there is being implemented here.”
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