Furthermore, the concentration of wealth continues to be around primordial characteristics such as caste. On one hand, inherited wealth and caste privilege continue to shape power and influence and on the other hand, we see the persistence of marginalization among historically disadvantaged who are trapped in intergenerational poverty.
Wealth Inequality Oxfam India’s 2023 India Supplement reveals some stark findings proving that the gap between the rich and the poor is indeed widening. Following the pandemic in 2019, the bottom 50 per cent of the population have continued to see their wealth chipped away. By 2020, their income share was estimated to have fallen to only 13 per cent of the national income and have less than 3 per cent of the total wealth. Its impact has been exceptionally poor diets, increase in debt and deaths.
