New Delhi (PTI): The Congress on Monday charged that the gap between the ultra-rich and the middle class in the country is widening under the Modi government.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said an analysis of the publicly available data on income tax returns for the period 2013-14 to 2021-22 confirms one of the essential themes of the Bharat Jodo Yatra that of increasing income inequality.
"The widening gap between the ultra-rich and the middle class under the Modi government is more and more apparent," he said in a post on X.
"Here's the proof: The top 1 percent of income tax payers made 17 percent of all income in 2013-14. By 2021-22, the top 1 percent made 23 percent of all income.
"Further, the income growth of the ultra-rich was much faster than for the middle class. The top 1 percent of income tax payers saw their income grow at 13 percent year-on-year from 2013-14 to 2021-22 a massive 60 percent faster than the income of the lowest 25 percent of tax payers," the Congress leader claimed.
Ramesh said after adjusting for inflation, the lowest 25 percent tax-payers actually took home less real income in 2022 than in 2019.
"Gross income of the lowest 25 percent fell by 11 percent, from Rs 3.8 lakh crore in FY19 to Rs 3.4 lakh crore in FY22. Meanwhile, the real income of the top 1 percent jumped 30 percent from Rs 7.9 lakh crore in FY19 to Rs 10.2 lakh crore in FY22.
"Figures don't lie. Only the Prime Minister does," he alleged.
The Congress has been alleging that income disparity between the rich and the poor has been growing in the last few years.
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Budaun (UP), Apr 30 (PTI): The Budaun Police on Thursday busted a gang allegedly involved in preparing fake Aadhaar cards and forged documents, and arrested three of its members, officials said.
The action was carried out in the Hazratpur area, where the accused were found operating an illegal setup to generate fake identity documents, they said.
The accused have been identified as Farman Ali, a resident of Munshi Nagla, Anuj Kumar of Uprela, and Brajnandan of Sirsauli.
The police said a fingerprint scanner, three laptops, a hard disk, a scanner, a large number of Aadhaar cards and several suspicious documents were recovered from their possession.
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During interrogation, it was revealed that the gang had been involved in preparing fake identity documents for a long time, misleading people and earning money through illegal means, officials said.
Station House Officer Pushpendra Singh said the accused have been produced before a court, and efforts are underway to identify and arrest other members of the gang.
He added that further revelations are likely as the investigation progresses.
