Editor,
As per the recently published report by Paris-based World Inequality Lab, India now has one of the highest levels of income and wealth inequality in the world where the top 1 percent earn 22.6 percent of the national income and their wealth share have risen to 40.1 percent. The report says that India is now more unequal than during the time of the British Raj headed by the colonialist forces.
As a result of rising inequality, the tentacles of VIP culture are spreading rapidly with every passing day. My local State Bank of India branch has opened a special counter where customers can withdraw or deposit money with ease and avoid long queue at the general counter. Standing in the serpentine queue of the general counter, I asked if the special counter was for differently-abled persons and senior citizens. No, it was not. I was enlightened that the counter was only for the VIPs who would transact a minimum amount of Rs 50 thousand.
Sujit De,
Kolkata