Over 85% of billionaires in India belong to upper castes
New Delhi: More than 85 percent of India's billionaire wealth is concentrated among upper caste communities, showcasing the pervasive influence of caste on economic status. According to additional data shared with Business Standard by researchers from the World Inequality Lab, upper castes held 88.4 percent of billionaire wealth in 2022, compared to 2.6 percent held by people from scheduled castes (SCs).
Other backward classes (OBCs) accounted for 9 percent of billionaire wealth, while there were no billionaires from scheduled tribes (STs). The data, derived from the study "Towards Tax Justice and Wealth Redistribution in India: Proposals Based On Latest Inequality Estimates”, involved manual coding and the 'Outkast' algorithm to determine the caste composition of billionaires.
The study, authored by Nitin Kumar Bharti (New York University), Lucas Chancel (Harvard Kennedy School), Thomas Piketty, and Anmol Somanchi (Paris School of Economics), indicates a decline in wealth among OBC billionaires and an increase for those from upper castes. This shift is attributed to the fact that most new billionaires in recent years have been from upper castes, according to Somanchi.
Caste continues to shape access to education, health, social networks, and credit, which are crucial for entrepreneurship and wealth generation. Historically, Dalits were prohibited from owning land in many regions, limiting their economic progress.
The disparity is not limited to billionaires. The “State of Working India, 2023” a report by Azim Premji University shows that SCs and STs are underrepresented as enterprise owners relative to their workforce participation. While SCs constitute 19.3 percent of the workforce, only 11.4 percent own enterprises. For STs, who make up 10.1 percent of the workforce, only 5.4 percent own enterprises.
Wealth inequality extends beyond the billionaire list. According to the National Family Health Survey, only 12.3 percent of SCs and 5.4 percent of STs are in the highest wealth quintile. Conversely, more than 25 percent of SCs and 46.3 percent of STs fall into the lowest wealth category. The OBC community has 16.3 percent of its population in the lowest wealth category and 19.2 percent in the highest wealth category.
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World’s ‘nicest judge’ Frank Caprio, who drew huge online audience with his kindness, dies at 88
Rhode Island: Frank Caprio, the Rhode Island judge whose compassionate courtroom manner made him a global sensation, passed away on August 20 at the age of 88.
His death after “a long and courageous battle with pancreatic cancer” was announced through a statement on his Instagram account.
Widely known as “world’s Nicest Judge,” Caprio rose to international prominence through the television show Caught in Providence, which aired from 2000 and became an internet phenomenon years later. Clips of his empathetic judgments, often laced with humor, warmth, and kindness, attracted millions of viewers on social media, earning him a devoted following worldwide.
Born on November 24, 1936, Caprio served as a municipal judge in Providence from 1985 until his retirement in 2023. His courtroom became a symbol of compassion in justice. His most popular videos have been those where he calls children to the bench to help pass judgement on their parents.
“Beloved for his compassion, humility, and unwavering belief in the goodness of people, Judge Caprio touched the lives of millions through his work in the courtroom and beyond,” his family wrote in their tribute. “His warmth, humor, and kindness left an indelible mark on all who knew him.”
With nearly 3.5 million followers on his personal Instagram account and over 16 million on the show’s official page, he used his platform to highlight systemic issues such as the lack of equal access to the judicial system. In one video, he remarked, “The phrase, ‘With liberty and justice for all’ represents the idea that justice should be accessible to everyone. However, it is not.”
Even in the final years of his life, Caprio remained an advocate for fairness. Reflecting on his approach to the bench, he said in 2017: “I hope that people will take away that the institutions of government can function very well by exercising kindness, fairness, and compassion in their deliberations. We live in a very contentious society. I would hope that people will see that we can dispense justice without being oppressive.”
On social media platformX, Gov. Dan McKee called Caprio a “Rhode Island treasure” and ordered that flags in the state be flown at half-mast in his honor.
