“First, we will conduct a caste census to know the exact population and status of backward castes, SCs, STs, minorities and other castes. After that, the financial and institutional survey will begin. Subsequently, we will take up the historic assignment to distribute the wealth of India, jobs and other welfare schemes to these sections based on their population,” the Congress stalwart was quoted as saying by TOI.
Congress in its recently released manifesto for the Lok Sabha polls said that it is time for a re-set of economic policy in the nation.
“After 33 years, the time is ripe for a re-set of economic policy. We need a Nav Sankalp Economic Policy. The cornerstone of the Nav Sankalp Economic Policy will be Jobs. To create jobs, India must become a producing economy. We must produce goods and services for ourselves and for the world. There is a huge opportunity for India to emerge as the world’s biggest producer,” Congress said.
The idea of wealth distribution is rooted in the philosophy of treating rising economic inequality, at least in theory. Developing economies have seen increasing instances of inequality.
ALSO READ: India’s richest 1% has highest concentration of wealth in decades, study showsInequality in India has been on the rise since the 1990s, data shows. A report shows that between 2014-15 and 2022-23, the rise of top-end inequality has been “particularly pronounced in terms of wealth concentration.” “By 2022-23, top 1% income and wealth shares (22.6% and 40.1%) are at their highest historical levels and India’s top 1% income share is among the very highest in the world,” as per World Inequality Lab’s working paper authored by Nitin Kumar Bharti, Lucas Chancel, Thomas Piketty and Anmol Somanchi.
Several countries in the past have opted for wealth redistribution exercises through various forms. Countries like Finalnd and Sweden have relied on a progressive transfer system while the United States of America uses taxes and transfers with the same degree of progressivity.
India, too, has a progressive tax system wherein the richest are taxed at least 30 per cent, of which a substantial part goes into welfare schemes targeted at the poor. Cash transfer programmes too form a part of such redistribution schemes.