New Delhi: It would have taken 10,000 years for an unskilled worker to make what Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) chairman Mukesh Ambani made in an hour during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a recent Oxfam report.
According to the report titled “The Inequality Virus”, Ambani earned Rs 90 crore per hour during the pandemic.
In comparison, around 24 per cent in the country were earning Rs 3,000 per month during the pandemic, India Today reported.
“Data shows what Ambani earned during the pandemic would keep 40 crore informal workers who are at risk of falling into poverty due to COVID-19 above the poverty line for at least 5 months,” the report added.
The latest report by Oxfam highlighted how the COVID-19 pandemic has widened the income gap between the richest and poorest people in India as well as across the world.
The report said that India’s top 100 billionaires saw their wealth surge by 35 per cent during the pandemic.
“The wealth of Indian billionaires increased by 35 per cent during the lockdown and by 90 per cent since 2009 to $422.9 billion, ranking India sixth in the world after US, China, Germany, Russia and France,” The Indian Express quoted the report as saying.
According to Oxfam’s calculations, since the government announced possibly the strictest lockdown anywhere in the world in March 2020, India’s top 100 billionaires saw their fortunes increase by Rs 12.97 trillion — enough money to give every one of the 138 million poorest Indians a cheque for Rs 94,045 each.
In stark contrast, 170,000 people lost their jobs every hour in the month of April 2020, the report pointed out.
“In fact, the increase in wealth of the top 11 billionaires of India during the pandemic could sustain the NREGS scheme for 10 years or the health ministry for 10 years,” according to Oxfam’s calculations.
Also Read: While World Battled Corona Crisis, Billionaires Got Richer By Trillions!
