New Delhi: Indian Overseas Congress Chairman, Sam Pitroda, on Wednesday asserted that India is dealing with major policy issues in redistributing its wealth and the party has a perfect plan of action to deal with it."This is a policy issue. Congress party would frame a policy through which the wealth distribution would be better," he told news agency ANI.

When asked what could be possibly done to better the situation, Pitroda explained, "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 vacations 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. It's naive to think like that."

Furthermore, he emphasised that India is dealing with ‘major policy issues in redistributing wealth’ and the country needs good data to understand it.

"You are really dealing with the policy issues to redistribute wealth and when you ask for the data, you are really trying to understand what is the distribution today. We don't have good data on all this. I think we need data to decide on policy issues. We don't need data to distribute wealth. We need data to decide on policy issues going forward."

Does India need an Inheritance Tax the same as the US?

Pitroda concluded by stating that India needs the concept of ‘inheritance tax’ the same as the United States where a person is compelled to leave 55 per cent of his or her wealth to the govt for the betterment of the public. 

“In America, there is an inheritance tax. If one has $100 million worth of wealth and when he dies he can only transfer probably 45% to his children, 55% 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. 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 kind of issues people will have to debate and discuss. ”

These comments come a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched a scathing attack on the Congress saying that the party would distribute the nation’s wealth among "infiltrators."

“The Congress shehzaada says that they will get investigated who earns how much, how much property you have, how much money you have, how many houses you have. He further says that the government will take possession of this property and distribute it to everyone… Our mothers and sisters have gold. This is stri dhan, it is considered sacred, the law also protects it. Their eyes are on your mangalsutra.”

Congress distances itself from Pitroda, says it's his personal comment

Amid the fresh controversy sparked over Pitroda's comments, the Congress party has distanced itself stating that those are his personal comments and the party has nothing to do with it. 

Congress General Secretary in-charge Communications, Jairam Ramesh tweets, "Sam Pitroda has been a mentor, friend, philosopher, and guide to many across the world, including me...Mr Pitroda expresses his opinions freely on issues he feels strongly about. Surely, in a democracy an individual is at liberty to discuss, express, and debate his personal views. This does not mean that Mr. Pitroda's views always reflect the position of the Indian National Congress.