GAP BETWEEEN RICH AND POOR

In the Indian capital you can see signs of India are growing economy and infrastructure on one side and the other side there are slums. Economic inequality and the rich-poor divide is something which is visible starkly and stares at you in your eyes in India. In the last year though, the biggest trouble has become that how these people feed their families. India’s economic growth is at a low as food inflation is at an all time high. That’s also a reason why the Indian government cannot doll out the same sops till doled out a year back. Last year has seen the Indian government cutting on subsidies that have led to increase in prices of cooking gas and fuel which have impacted the poor the most. Much of India’s money goes into schemes for poor including subsidies in food and fertilizer, but most of this does not reach it’s meant for because of a lack of an efficient delivery system. A lot of it also gets lost in corruption. According to the Indian government’s economic survey for the financial year 2012-2013, poverty has gone down in India by about an average rate of 1.5% in the last nine years since the current government has been in power. But there is no mention about the rich and poor divide which has only become wider. The Indian government’s economic survey also says that the reason why poverty numbers have gone down by about 54.2 million people is high economic growth and the Indian government’s social security measures and schemes. The central government expenditure on social services and rural development has gone up 14.77%, showing that the government is giving a high priority to this area. Even though, the economic survey said that there has been a reduction in the divide between urban and rural population, the fact remains that it was silent on the inequality that has been rising between the top 10% rich of India and the bottom 10% poor in the country. It also painted a very dismal picture on employment generation. The 11th plan of India saw a massive increase of 149 per cent for social security schemes, but the rich poor divide remains stark as Indian government has been unsuccessful in plugging loopholes in the delivery mechanism. Just like China’s latest measure to reduce the rich poor divide, India tool a recent step to introduce direct cash transfers is an effort to get the money directly to people its intended for. But the problems in India remain basic, that most of rural India doesn't have banks and poor people do not have bank accounts, which mean delivery will continue to be a very mean task. As far as the India government is concerned, there line has been inclusive growth, the inclusiveness has been elusive and the problem will continue and the rich and poor divide will continue to grow till the time inflation is tamed.