Fri Feb 14 22:42:00 UTC 2025: ## Tharoor Calls for Wealth Redistribution to Bridge Inequality at Bengaluru Investors’ Meet

**Bengaluru, February 15, 2025** – Congress MP Shashi Tharoor advocated for wealth redistribution as a key solution to India’s growing inequality during a panel discussion at the Invest Karnataka 2025 Global Investors Meet on Friday. He criticized the government’s free foodgrain program for 80 crore people, calling it an “ambitious failure” that masks deeper issues of empowerment. Tharoor argued that the program merely reflects the inability of many citizens to afford their own food.

Tharoor also expressed concern over the growing trend of governments, including India’s, controlling independent institutions. He cited leaders like Viktor Orbán (Hungary), Narendra Modi (India), and Recep Tayyip Erdoğan (Turkey) as examples of this worrying trend towards authoritarianism.

Addressing India’s high unemployment rate and the need for educational reform, Tharoor stressed the importance of critical thinking in education, urging a shift from teaching “what to think” to teaching “how to think,” particularly given the projected impact of AI and automation on the job market.

While acknowledging criticism of the UN’s effectiveness, particularly in conflicts like the Ukraine war and the Syrian crisis, Tharoor highlighted the organization’s successes in addressing global challenges like climate change and human trafficking. He pointed out that the limitations of international institutions, such as the World Bank, IMF, and WTO, stem from their design but emphasized their vital role in fostering global cooperation. He specifically criticized the WTO’s crippled dispute resolution mechanism due to American boycott and noted the IMF’s focus on the private sector while the World Bank grapples with peripheral global economic concerns.

Former Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou, also on the panel, underscored the importance of transparency and accountability in governance, highlighting how their absence contributed to Greece’s economic crisis.

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