Congress: Will impose 5% cess on incomes top 1% richest Indians

New Delhi, March 17: The Congress on Saturday said it would impose a five per cent cess on the incomes of the top one percent richest Indians, when it comes to power.

The resolution on "Agriculture, Employment and Poverty Alleviation", adopted at the party's 84th plenary here, also said that the party shall create a National Poverty Alleviation Fund while this 5 per cent cess would "be used directly to give education scholarships to the children from Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other BPL families".

The Congress also noted that the rising levels of income inequality is a direct result of the "anti-poor policies" of the Narendra Modi government.

"The BJP had promised 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas', but has acted contrary to their slogan. The wealth of the richest one percent has gone up by 73 per cent while the wealth of the bottom half of the population has grown by just 1 per cent during the BJP regime," it added.