Devastating growth of inequality in India:

*Devastating growth of inequality in India: *

Ø       *Fourth rank in Dollar Billionaires: *In India in 2007, I am sure

you all will be very thrilled to know, we have the fourth highest number of

dollar- billionaires in the planet.  We are ahead of all countries in the

number of billionaires except the United States, Germany and Russia.

Incidentally, our billionaires are richer than those of Germany and Russia

in terms of net asset worth.  You can look up all these numbers on The

World's Billionaires at *www.forbes.com * � the Oracle of global

billionaires.

Ø       *126 th in Human Development: *We have the second richest

billionaires in the world in dollars and we have the fourth largest number

of billionaires in the planet.  But we are 126 th in human development. The

same nation that has ranks fourth in billionaires is 126th in human

development.  What does it mean to be 126th ?  It means that it is better to

be a poor person in Bolivia (the poorest nation in South America) or

Guatemala or Gabon. They are ahead of us in the UN's Human Development

Index.  You can get all these figures in the Parliament Library from the

United Nations Human Development Reports of the last 10 or 15 years.

Ø       *836 million live on less than Rs. 20 a day: *We are the emerging

'tiger economy.'  But life expectancy in our nation is lower than it is

in

Bolivia, Kazakhstan and Mongolia.  We have 100,000 dollar millionaires, out

of whom 25,000 reside in my city of Mumbai, I am proud to say.  Yet, 836

million people in our nation exist on less than Rs. 20/- a day according to

the Government of India.  There is no such thing as Indian reality.  There

are Indian *realities *.  There is a multiplicity of realities.

Ø       *Slowing down of infant death rate decline: *The growth rate of our

country is indeed the envy of many. But the rate of decline of infant

mortality actually slowed down in this country in the last 15 years.  The

largest number of infant deaths 2.5 million takes place in this country,

followed by China.

Ø       *CEO's salaries set all time records: *Chief Executive Officer

'packages' grew like never before in the last ten years.  Indeed, the

Prime

Minister of this country felt constrained to make some remarks about the

salaries of CEOs. You can remember the kind of pasting he came in for in the

media as a result of having dared to question that maybe a CEO could live on

a million less a year, or whatever it was. But while CEOs salaries have gone

through the roof, farm incomes have collapsed.