COLOMBO – In its latest report, Oxfam has said that the wealth of Indian billionaires increased by 35% during the lockdown and by 90%  since 2009 to US$  422.9 billion, ranking India sixth in the world after the US, China, Germany, Russia and France, it said.

The report titled ‘The Inequality Virus’ said  the wealth of India’s top 100 billionaires shot up by Rs 12.97 trillion, which is enough money to support the vaccination drive of 138 million poorest Indians.

Meanwhile, in a grim contrast, as many as 170,000 Indians suffered a lay off every hour in April last year, following the Centre’s decision to impose the world’s strictest lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Moreover, for the world’s richest, it took less than 10 months to recover the financial losses caused by the pandemic, the report pointed out, noting that it will take over a decade for the world’s poorest to catch up.

“In fact, the increase in wealth of the top 11 billionaires of India during the pandemic could sustain the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) scheme for 10 years or the health ministry for 10 years,” Oxfam said, adding that the brutal pandemic can increase economic inequality in almost every country at once.

Meanwhile, Ireland’s nine billionaires saw their collective fortunes rise by €3.28 billion last year despite the deepest global recession in decades, the report noted..

Oxfam, a confederation of 20 non-profit groups that focuses on the alleviation of global poverty, was founded in 1942 and is led by Oxfam International.

The report also highlighted the fact that the impact of the virus is being felt unevenly, with ethnic minorities in certain countries dying at higher rates and women being overrepresented in the sectors of the economy that are hardest hit by the pandemic.

The Oxfam report is timed to coincide with the start of the World Economic Forum’s virtual Davos event: an entire week of global programming dedicated to helping leaders choose innovative and bold solutions to stem the pandemic and drive a robust recovery over the next year.

Oxfam argued in its report that fairer economies are the key to a rapid economic recovery from COVID-19.

It calculated that a temporary tax on excess profits made by the 32 global corporations that have gained the most during the pandemic could have raised US$ 104 billion in 2020, an amount it said was enough to have provided unemployment benefits for all workers and financial support for all children and elderly people in low- and middle-income countries.

“Extreme inequality is not inevitable, but a policy choice,” said Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International.

“The fight against inequality must be at the heart of economic rescue and recovery efforts” with investments in public services financed by a tax system where the richest individuals and corporations pay their fair share.

The report also gave an insight to the sector-wise loss of workforce in India. The country’s massive informal workforce was the worst hit as it made up 75% 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, the report said.

Besides, the pandemic forced the education system to shift online, which further worsened inequalities among students. While private providers such as BYJU’s (currently valued at $10.8 billion) and Unacademy (valued at $1.45 billion) experienced exponential growth, just 3% of the poorest 20% of Indian households had access to a computer and just 9% had access to the internet.

“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,” the Oxfam reported.

“Only 6% of the poorest 20% households had access to non-shared sources of improved sanitation, compared to 93% of the top 20% households in India,” it added.

Meanwhile, in terms of caste, just 37.2% of Dalit households and 25.9% of Tribal households had access to non-shared sanitation facilities, compared to 65.7% for the general population.

The unemployment rate among women rose from already high 15% before COVID to 18%.  “This increase in unemployment of women can result in a loss to India’s GDP of about 8% or US$218 billion,” the report warned.

It has also predicted the closure of family planning services will result in 2.95 million unintended pregnancies… 1.80 million abortions (including 1.04 million unsafe abortions) and 2,165 maternal deaths.

“While the Coronavirus was being touted as a great equalizer in the beginning, it laid bare the stark inequalities inherent in the society soon after the lockdown was imposed,” said Oxfam India CEO Amitabh Behar.

“The deep divide between the rich and poor is proving as deadly as the virus,” said Gabriela Bucher, Executive Director of Oxfam International.

-ENCL