Opposition parties in the Rajya Sabha on Monday cited rising economic inequality in the country to question the government’s claim about “Amrit Kal”.

During a discussion on the motion of thanks to the President’s address, Trinamul Congress leader S.S. Roy said the word “amrit” had been used 10 times in the speech of the President.

Roy said the Constitution talks about removing inequality. He quoted an Oxfam report and the Asia Pacific Human Development Report of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to argue that inequality had increased.

According to the recent reports cited by Roy, the wealth disparity in India remains stark. The Oxfam report, released last month, revealed that the wealthiest 1 per cent of the population possesses over 40 per cent of the nation’s wealth, whereas the bottom 50 per cent only holds 3 per cent. Furthermore, the number of billionaires in India has seen a notable rise. Roy also referenced the UNDP report, indicating that the top 10 per cent of the population commands 65 per cent of the country’s wealth.

Roy highlighted that over the past decade, the real wages of 35 per cent of the population have experienced a decline. Real wages denote the purchasing power of wages concerning goods and services.

“In such inequality, we are saying Amrit Kal. Unless we address inequality, the country cannot progress,” Roy said.

Roy termed as a “lofty claim” the Niti Aayog report that 25 crore people had been lifted out of poverty in the past 10 years. He wanted to know how many people were still languishing in poverty.

Roy said the central government believed in “non-cooperative federalism” as it had dislodged Opposition-ruled governments in several states.

He said the central government had resorted to “fiscal terrorism” as it was sitting over the release of grants of Rs 1.16 lakh crore to Bengal under various central-sponsored schemes.

DMK leader T. Siva also highlighted the rising inequality in the country. India was ranked 139th on the Global Hunger Index. In per-capita income, India is at the bottom among all the G-20 countries.

He noted that the Parliament’s scrutiny of government legislation was dwindling. During the UPA government, 71 per cent of bills underwent parliamentary panel scrutiny, whereas only 17 per cent of bills faced such examination under the NDA government, he said.

Aam Admi Party leader Sandeep K. Pathak said the real Amrit Kal would start when all people get equal education, healthcare and opportunities to grow.

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said the Modi government had three weapons to win elections — EVMs, communalism and the Enforcement Directorate and the
CBI.

The RJD’s A.D. Singh, too, questioned the claims of poverty alleviation. “If two crore people have been lifted out of poverty, why do we feed 81 crore people still?” he asked.