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Opinion
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| REDISTRIBUTION ROW | | | | The debate and discussion around inequality and redistribution has been going on for over a thousand years. As a result two things have become absolutely clear: it’s desirable and it should be within reason. The desirability of it takes care of the moral aspects of an excessive concentration of wealth. The aspect of reasonableness takes care of the economic consequences. But in democracies that depend on voting there is a third aspect that the original proponents of redistribution of wealth had never considered: politics.
Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress Sam Pitroda has backed the party's stand on redistribution of wealth and advocated an inheritance tax law in India. Emphasizing the need for policy towards wealth redistribution, Pitroda elaborated on the concept of inheritance tax prevailing in America.
"In America, there is an inheritance tax. If one has 100 million USD worth of wealth and when he dies he can only transfer probably 45 per cent to his children, 55 per cent is grabbed by the government. That's an interesting law. It says you in your generation made wealth and you are leaving now, you must leave your wealth for the public, not all of it, half of it, which to me sounds fair," Pitroda said.
"In India, you don't have that. If somebody is worth 10 billion and he dies, his children get 10 billion and the public gets nothing...So these are the kinds of issues people will have to debate and discuss. When we talk about redistributing wealth, we are talking about new policies and new programs that are in the interest of the people and not in the interest of the super-rich only," he added.
Pitroda also said that the subject of wealth distribution is strictly a 'policy issue' and he feels concerned about Prime Minister Modi after his remarks on the Congress manifesto. "This is a policy issue. The Congress party would frame a policy through which the wealth distribution would be better. We don't have a minimum wage (in India). If we come up with a minimum wage in the country saying you must pay so much money to the poor, that's the distribution of wealth. Today, rich people don't pay their peons, servants, and home help enough but they spend that money on vacation in Dubai and London...When you talk about the distribution of wealth, it is not that you sit on a chair and say I have this much money and I'll be distributing it to everybody," Pitroda said
BJP ripped into Sam Pitroda's inheritance tax suggestion, Congress distances itself from comments slamming him over his remarks on the redistribution of wealth where the Chairman of Indian Overseas Congress advocated an inheritance tax law in the country while Congress distanced itself from the comments saying that his views do not always reflect the position of the party.
In a post on X, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said, "Family Advisor is spilling the beans - their intention is ‘organised loot and legalised plunder’ of your hard-earned money." BJP spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill also slammed Pitroda saying that voters need to be aware of property snatchers ``Cat is out of the Bag! Rahul Gandhi’s main advisor Sam Pitroda ``hua to hua '' Fame proposes “inheritance tax” like the US where the Govt takes 50 per cent+ of your wealth! Voting for Congress = Losing your Money + Property + Belongings! Voters be aware, property snatchers are here!" Shergill posted on X. | | | | |
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