Women are the solution. But how?

According to a report by Credit Suisse the number of dollar millionaires in India has grown by 7,300 to a total of 343,000. The number is expected to rise to 526,000 by 2023. In 2000 we had just 39,000 millionaires. 18.6% of dollar billionaires are women, second only to Germany with 26%. India has 404,000 in the top 1% of wealth holders in the world. The cumulative wealth of our millionaires is $6 trillion which converts to Rs 438 trillion. 91% of wealth is in physical assets, like real estate. Is that reason to cheer? 91% of adult population have wealth below $10,000 which is around Rs 735,000. Average "wealth per adult is $7,020 (around Rs 515,970) as against $47,810 in China (Rs 35.14 lakhs). Last year's survey found that 92.3% of adults possess wealth below $10,000, so there is an improvement of 1.3%. Another report in February claimed that "India is the second most 'unequal' country in the world, with millionaires controlling 54% of the wealth. In Japan, the most equal country, millionaires control 22% of national wealth," wrote Prof N Banik. "A country that neglects rising income inequality cannot sustain its long-term economic growth." The only way to reduce inequality is to train our people to use technology. "India's labour productivity -- economic output per hour of work -- is just 15% of US levels." Agricultural productivity -- measured by output per hectare -- is less than half of other countries and only widespread use of technology can help our farmers. Income inequality could be a result of inequality in education. The National Family and Health Survey revealed that "three in four men who never went to school marry uneducated women". Studies have repeatedly shown that educating women increases wealth, there are fewer children and children are healthier and better educated. Economic growth in India has been due to a falling birth rate. "India's family size has steadily declined and continues to -- from 5.2 children per family in 1971 to 2.3 in 2016, which means the family size itself has fallen from 7.2 to 4.3." Again, mother's education was an important factor, with illiterate mothers having 3.1 children in 2015-16, while mothers with more than 12 years of education having only 1.7 children. Too many people makes it very difficult to provide enough nutrition for all at affordable prices. India is ranked 100 out of 119 countries in Global Hunger Index rankings. However, inequality is not only among the poor. While Mukesh Ambani's wealth has soared to $43.1 billion, making him the richest man in Asia, his brother Anil has seen his wealth halved to just $1.5 billion. Can we call him a poor billionaire?