Introducing
Prezi AI.
Your new presentation assistant.
Refine, enhance, and tailor your content, source relevant images, and edit visuals quicker than ever before.
Trending searches
Loading…
The Widening Gap Between Rich and Poor in India
37
Transcript
The Widening Gap Between Rich and Poor in India
Kevin Phan
NOW
- Currently, the gap between rich and poor is widening within India.
- In 2017, India's richest 1% had 58% of the country's total wealth, however, as of 2018, the richest 1% now hold 73% of the country's total wealth, however, during this time, the 670 million citizens in India saw their wealth increase by only 1%.
- This situation is only getting worse as the poor have their wellbeing directly affected as they cannot afford the goods and services in which they need. These goods and services include, water, food, healthcare, housing, and education.
- Furthermore, people in poverty are more likely to decline into more stress as these people usually have labour-intensive jobs which puts strain on their health, and are usually uneducated and, therefore, have no knowledge what to avoid and what is making them sick.
- As they are poor, they cannot afford quality foods and healthcare, contributing to their state of living.
PERSPECTIVE
Perspective
- Currently, it wound take 941 years for a minimum wage worker in rural India to earn what the top paid executing at a leading Indian garment firm earns within 1 year.
- In 1990, India's three wealthiest states had 50% higher incomes than the three poorest states in India, this statsitic rose to 200% in 2014, showing the issue worsening in India.
- 57 individuals billionaires in India own the same wealth as 70% of India's money.
- All these statsitic put into perspective how the rich and poor and divided, such that a few people can account for millions.
Contribution
CONTRIBUTION
- A theory to the widening gap concerns jobs. Internal migration between states within India is difficult due to cultural and linguistic barriers. Because of this, the chances of jobs for more dense populations is extremely limited, and ,therefore, so it economic growth, leaving poor states poor while others remain wealthy
- Another theory suggests that the economic growth in India relies more heavily on skill-intensive sectors such as IT rather than labour-intensive manufacturing, such that poorer countries don't have access to the education that is required for these jobs and ,therefore, remain poor while the wealth are able to afford the jobs and are able to seize those jobs.
Education
Education
- Additionally, a large reason for the widening gap between the rich and poor concerns education or the lack of.
- A study conducted by UNESCO pointed out that India has the lowest public expenditure on education per student among the major economies such as China.
- On average, India spends $250 USD per student per year, compared to China which spends on average $1675 USD per student per year.
- India spends around 3.8% on education against the world average of 4.5%.
- Similarly, the total expenditure on health in India is less than 2% against the world average of 4.5%.
- As education and health are core to social justic, economic productivity and overall well-being, these sectors need to be invested into.
The Caste System
The caste system is a system which divides groups within India into a hierarchy, Those ranking high in the caste system have various privileges which people ranking lower, lack. Lower castes would be denied access to basic healthcare, education, and would be avoided by society, this greatly impacts them and contributes to the widening gap within India, such that the poor aren't being helped. These lower castes were left to do undesirable jobs such as waste disposal, toilet cleaning and cremation. Dalits, know as the 'untouchables' were considered the lowest caste group, sometimes being considered outside of it. They would be regularly ridiculed against by other groups, being spat on and treated like animals, e.g. be made to bathe is the same water as them.
The Caste System
More Information
- The levels of poverty among the low social groups of the caste system are shocking. It is a key driver of inequality in India.
- Many of India's 220 million Dalits remain excluded from society.
- In 2014, 44% of people from scheduled Tribes and 34% of those from Scheduled Castes were living below the poverty line.
- By all standard measures, life expectancy, infant mortality and rate of infectious disease, lower castes are massively disproportionately affected.
- Lower castes continue to be denied proper education, if any at all. If poverty is to be eradicated in India, then equality between castes must be established.
The Future
- Oxfam suggests that to fix the issue of inequality, it should be encouraged to increase labour-intensive sectors that will create more jobs, imposing higher tax on the super-rich, implementing polices to counteract all forms of gender discrimination and putting strict measures against tax evasion (in particular, the rich
- A scheme done previously to increase work was the Employment guarantee scheme in 2005, this by demand said that every rural household must have minimum 100 days of paid work at minimum wage annually. This will increase income, and ,therefore, wellbeing.
The Future
The Caste System
The Caste System
Since there has been a significant increase in the public sector for employment for lower caste groups such as the scheduled tribes and schedule castes, there has been a drop in poverty amongst these groups, therefore, providing job opportunities can be an efficient method to eradicate poverty in lower caste groups.
Wellbeing,
Well-being
- Currently, despite the widening gap between rich and poor in India, the poorer states have been catching up on human-development measures such as infant mortality and life expectancy.
- Fertility rates in the northern Hindi belt are rapidly falling to levels already reached by richer states such as Tamil Nadu (Southern)
- To increase these statistic in the future, India should shift their focus on education, improving human capital. This will enbale another perspective of living in poverty, and allow those people in poverty to make a decision to benefit them.
Bibliography
- The Economist. (2018). The gap between India’s richer and poorer states is widening. [online] Available at: https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2017/09/02/the-gap-between-indias-richer-and-poorer-states-is-widening [Accessed 13 Nov. 2018].
- Businesstoday.in. (2018). Income inequality gets worse; India's top 1% bag 73% of the country's wealth, says Oxfam. [online] Available at: https://www.businesstoday.in/current/economy-politics/oxfam-india-wealth-report-income-inequality-richests-poor/story/268541.html [Accessed 14 Nov. 2018
- K.S. Venkatachalam, T. (2017). How to Fix India's Wealth Gap. [online] The Diplomat. Available at: https://thediplomat.com/2017/02/how-to-fix-indias-wealth-gap/ [Accessed 15 Nov. 2018].
- Choudhary, G. (2018). Poor and Rich Gap in India. [online] Civilserviceindia.com. Available at: https://www.civilserviceindia.com/subject/Essay/rich-poor-gap.html [Accessed 15 Nov. 2018].
- Jones, S. (2015). India is still fighting over its caste system. Here’s why this is a problem for all of us.. [online] Global Citizen. Available at: https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/content/india-is-still-fighting-over-its-caste-system-here/ [Accessed 16 Nov. 2018].
Bibliography
Choose a template
Presentations from around the world
Learn more about creating dynamic, engaging presentations with Prezi