HOW MUCH WEALTH DO INDIAN MUSLIMS HAVE? HERE’S WHAT A STUDY SAYS
Prime Minister Narendra Modi claimed on Sunday (April 21) that the Congress has said in its election manifesto that it would take stock of the gold of “mothers and sisters”, and would then distribute it to Muslims, not sparing even mangalsutras.
The Congress described the Prime Minister's claims as “lies” and “hate speech”.
No recent detailed or specific data are available on the wealth and assets, including gold, owned by the various religious denominations in the country. Some related data are available in a 'Study Report on Inter Group Inequality in Wealth Ownership in India', published in 2020 by the Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, an ICSSR-recognised research institute.
This report, which used data from the All India Debt and Investment Survey (AIDIS) carried out by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), and the Indian Economic Census, found that the ownership of wealth was the lowest among Scheduled Tribes, Scheduled Castes, and Muslims.
Which groups own how much wealth in India?
According to data in the report, Hindu high castes owned about 41% of the total wealth of the country, followed by Hindu OBCs (31%). Muslims, SCs, and STs owned about 8%, 7.3%, and 3.7% of wealth respectively.
The share in wealth of the Hindu high castes was disproportionately high compared to their share of total households in India (22.2%). This number was 35.8% for Hindu OBCs, 12.1% for Muslims, 17.9% for SCs, and 9.1% for STs.
The report estimated the total value of the wealth owned by Hindu high castes at Rs 1,46,394 billion, which was almost 11 times the value of the wealth owned by STs (Rs 13,268 billion). Muslims owned wealth estimated at Rs 28,707 billion.
Total Wealth owned across social groups at current prices (In Rs billion)
| Social group | Rural | Urban | Total |
| Scheduled Tribe | 9544 | 3724 | 13268 |
| Scheduled Caste | 16163 | 9971 | 26134 |
| Hindu OBC | 62952 | 47568 | 110520 |
| Hindu high caste | 42338 | 104057 | 146394 |
| Muslim | 14379 | 14329 | 28707 |
| Rest | 15224 | 18105 | 33329 |
| Total | 160600 | 197753 | 358354 |
Source: AIDIS 2013; in Study Report on Inter Group Inequality in Wealth Ownership in India, 2020
What is the picture of wealth ownership per household?
Average per household wealth ownership was Rs 15.04 lakh, but there were significant variations among social groups.
Average household wealth was highest among Hindu high castes (Rs 27.73 lakh) followed by Hindu OBCs (Rs 12.96 lakh). The average wealth among Muslim households (Rs 9.95 lakh) was higher than among ST (Rs 6.13 lakh) and SC (Rs 6.12 lakh) households, the report found.
Per household asset owned across socio-religious groups in India at current prices (in Rs)
| Social group | Rural | Urban | Total |
| Scheduled Tribe | 513000 | 1227000 | 613000 |
| Scheduled Caste | 517000 | 871000 | 612000 |
| Hindu OBC | 1074000 | 1783000 | 1296000 |
| Hindu high caste | 1657000 | 3819000 | 2773000 |
| Muslim | 822000 | 1263000 | 995000 |
| Rest | 4668000 | 4826000 | 4753000 |
| Total | 1037000 | 2369000 | 1504000 |
Source: AIDIS 2013; in Study Report on Inter Group Inequality in Wealth Ownership in India, 2020
Which social group has the most gold?
According to the study, Hindu OBCs held the largest share of gold (39.1%), followed by Hindu high castes (31.3%). Muslims have a 9.2% share, which is more than only STs (3.4%).
Share of wealth across socio-religious groups by type of assets (in per cent)
| Social group | Land | Building | Livestock | Farm | Non Farm | Transport | Finance | Gold | Total assets |
| Scheduled Tribe | 4.2 | 2.7 | 12.9 | 8.1 | 1.2 | 4.1 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 3.7 |
| Scheduled Caste | 7.1 | 7 | 12.4 | 9.1 | 3.8 | 7.2 | 8.6 | 9.9 | 7.3 |
| Hindu OBC | 34.7 | 23.4 | 44 | 41.9 | 38.4 | 30 | 26.3 | 39.1 | 30.8 |
| Hindu high caste | 35.3 | 51.4 | 19.9 | 28 | 38.4 | 41.5 | 46.3 | 31.3 | 40.9 |
| Muslim | 7.7 | 8.5 | 6.9 | 5.4 | 9.7 | 8.8 | 6 | 9.2 | 8 |
| Rest | 11 | 6.9 | 4 | 7.6 | 8.4 | 8.4 | 8.9 | 7.1 | 9.3 |
| Total | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 | 100 |
Source: AIDIS, 2013; in Study Report on Inter Group Inequality in Wealth Ownership in India, 2020
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2024-04-23T17:07:46Z dg43tfdfdgfd