How Bad is the Gap Between Rich and Poor in India? | Street Interview

What we don’t often hear about in the mainstream media is the growing wealth gaps that are destroying the middle class all around the world. This is especially true for India, which has the third largest number of billionaires in the world after the US and China. But did you know that the richest 1% of Indians own over 40% of the country’s total wealth? How do ordinary Indians feel about this wealth gap and their top 1%? Our Asian Boss reporter hit the streets of Delhi to get some local insight.

*The opinions expressed in this video are those of individual interviewees alone and do not reflect the views of ASIAN BOSS or the general Indian population.*

0:00 - Intro
0:43 - What’s your income?
2:10 - Is India’s average income enough to live on?
3:02 - How bad is wealth inequality in India?
4:27 - Reactions to 1% of Indians holding 40% of the country’s wealth
5:55 - Are most rich Indians self-made or from generational wealth?
6:57 - Can hard work alone make poor Indians rich?
9:03 - Personal stories that highlight India’s wealth gap
10:08 - Do you envy or look up to rich Indians?
11:07 - Do rich Indians often show off their wealth?
13:26 - Why is India’s wealth gap so big?
15:10 - What can be done to reduce India’s wealth gap?

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[skylinec]

The girl from the family that’s top 10-15% of Indian income is clearly more educated and has a good understanding of how the world works and where she stands in society. But still seemed humble.

[AndorranStairway]

I’m not Indian but I’ve known this for a long time. Indians do anything to find a job overseas because the salary jump is astronomical.

[amaya]

I'm British Indian and im in croatia, my tour guide was talking to me about how all the Indians he's met here are so rich and he was saying how the western media only shows one side and that is the poor. But I said there is also a massive wealth gap. I think you would always find that in countries with massive populations.

[davidbrink]

Thanks! The Doctor is a wise man with a great sense of how things should work and he’s got a lot of common sense too bad he’s not in charge

[astrush]

My answer to his video can be explained in a single sentence - The rich become richer and the poor become poorer and the only way to get out of poverty is education in India

[blackwolf]

My mom used to teach in primary school. Her salary was just 5K INR a month(1-2 years ago). While school earned in Lakhs they paid their teachers so little.
Edit: That's not it. apparently they used to wire more money in teachers accounts and later ask them to withdraw some % money & teachers had to give it back in cash. It's not just one or two schools. A whole bunch of them do that.

[zenchii]

Just like you can't compare india with other country because of cost of living. You can't compare every indian, region to region cost of living varies significantly.
Both Mumbai and Kolkata are considered metropolitan cities but have vary drastic difference in their cost of living.

[mult-tea]

The male student hits the nail on the head every question. A lot of people are able to get to where they are at based on their family background.

[fuentesdaniel]

Very realistic, informed, and thought provoking responses. As an American, I wish more Americans would utlize their opportunities and comfort to think, truly honestly think.

[JoniniTheChickenNugget]

I think it is also important to distinguish where these people are being interviewed, in a metropolitan area. As we all know there are vast vast disparities in the welfare of the people in say cities versus those stuck working in rural areas through farms/factories.

[subinitamazumder]

It's a myth that India is poor and dirty. It's also a myth that we're very rich. There is a huge gap of wealth and a big reason for it is the population among other reasons.

[a_sm]

12:12 Shoutout to the uncle who knows the difference between Old money and New money. 👏👏👏

[grosstalks]

As an Indian I’m 32 y/o, I own a small school, I make approx 10L in Tier 3 Indian city .. I just want to convey my fellow Indian youth… Its better to focus on yourself first… enhance your skills and dive into the new challenges, take risk don’t afraid. Most of the talent comes from Middle class.

[Kochingteng]

Being from a lower middle class tribal family, I think the only way to get to the top is through govt services with the privilege of reservation. Other than that, it's really tough. In words people say you can do whatever you want but it's not always possible in reality. A good and strong foundation is required to become a successful businessman. Even if you have the idea, finance is the problem and banks won't give loans to poor people.

[UkatOmat]

The doctor and the guy with glasses both pointed out how casteism affects the reserved and non reserved people. I believe that they were both right in their own opinion. There's sure a lot of poor and low caste people who still dont even have the opportunity to get education and this mostly happens in villages. At the same time there's reserved people who exploit this privilege to such heights that they accumulate a lot of generational wealth and can provide their kids with a lot of opportunities and misuse the reservation given to them.

[roslynzatecr]

They all are so well spoken even when they speak in their second or third language

[Rhea]

Can we talk about how well informed they are?!

[burdnsome]

Education, Education, Education. Education is so important. You can not stress it enough. But sadly, people do not see it that way. Following your dreams, start-ups, dropping out of school/college to do something out of the ordinary, it all looks charming. But that too is also from people who have some backing. If you are not from a strong background, only education can help you. Of course, there will be some you can make it even without education and family backing, but they are the exceptions, not the norm.

[ankitmyana]

The specs guy with curly hair and the check shirt uncle and the girl whose 'hoarding' was subtitled as "holding" have my respect. They truly understand India. They spoke real words of wisdom.

[spilltea]

10% owning 60-70% of wealth is common occurrence in a capitalist country.
The issue is that Indian economy overall is smaller so the 30% wealth left for 90% population is very small compared to developed country