India's Wage Inequality 'Concerning'; More Than Neighbouring Countries: Jairam Ramesh
Congress General Secretary in charge of Communications, Jairam Ramesh, on Friday highlighted the International Labour Organisation’s recently released Global Wage Report 2024-2025, noting the “concerning findings” about wage inequality in India.
The Congress Rajya Sabha MP pointed out the top 10 percentile of India’s income earners earn 6.8 times more than the bottom 10 percentile, showcasing the huge income disparity among the people of the country. The Congress leader said the revelation showed significantly more inequality than nearly every country in India’s neighbourhood, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Myanmar.
Read Also: ‘Government’s Focus Is To Show Inflation As Low, Not On Reducing It’: Jairam Ramesh
The Congress leader further emphasised that India has one of the lowest shares of wage workers among all lower-middle-income countries. “Most workers are engaged in self-employment, which is typically informal, low-paying, and highly prone to volatility,” Jairam Ramesh noted, adding that this was a direct consequence of the “pakoda-nomics that the non-biological PM has created. Pakodas for the masses, halwa for the chosen few!” The Congress leader was referring to a term used by the Prime Minister earlier when discussing employment issues in the country.
The International Labour Organisation’s just released Global Wage Report 2024-2025 has some concerning findings about wage inequality in India –
• The top 10 percentile of India’s income-earners earn 6.8 times more than the bottom 10 percentile. This is significantly more… pic.twitter.com/grbQiXdW8Q
— Jairam Ramesh (@Jairam_Ramesh) November 29, 2024
Read Also: “Tremendous Slowdown In Household Private Consumption”: Jairam Ramesh Flags Economic Slump
“Pakodanomics” refers to the economic policies instituted in India to promote self-employment and entrepreneurship. This term originated during an exclusive interview by Zee Media of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2018, wherein he remarked that the street food vendors, such as those selling pakodas, should be included in employment statistics, claiming it would mean the country’s unemployment rate is lower than what is reported statistically.
Jairam Ramesh had recently accused the Modi government of suppressing and manipulating inflation data and the unemployment rate, among other things, by showing them as lower. He alleged that the Union government is attempting to manipulate the Consumer Price Index (CPI) and Wholesale Price Index (WPI) figures to show inflation as being under control when the ground reality is that the pockets of the common man are constantly increasing as they have been facing a non-stop price surge.
Read Also: Let Loose Legal Cannons Attempting Damage Control: Jairam Ramesh On Top Lawyers Supporting Adani
The Congress MP had also noted a tremendous slowdown in private household consumption in the country, suggesting bankruptcy among the people. He said the urban middle class was shrinking as they have been “disproportionately affected” by the changing economic dynamics, urging the prime minister to recognise the reality.
