Tax rich to fund anti-poverty programme, says Jeffrey Sachs

"Government should tax adequately and use that to give slabs to the people in poverty so that they can have access to health clinics and safe delivery," Sachs said at an UNESCAP event here.

He also called upon the corporates to play a pro-active role in helping the governments to combat poverty and address social sector problems.

"By good governance, I mean responsibility of the government and also responsibility of the corporate sector. The world is run by companies, more than it is run by the government... Poor people need help, these is what governance is about," said Sachs, who has written several books on development economics.

He said that about one-seventh of the world lived in extreme poverty. "It is a tragedy. There is enough technology and resources in the world to go about to ensure that everybody on this planet has the access to health coverage, safe childhood, drinking water, sanitation," Sachs said.

He said the Tax-GDP ratio is India is very low and the government should increase it to meet its development expenses. "I do not think India will be able to achieve all its goal with this Tax-GDP ratio. India cannot manage its rising budget with this low ratio."

Sachs further said that India has 17 per cent of the world's population and two per cent of the world's land area. And about two per cent of world's water resources and it is extra-ordinarily vulnerable to climate change and bio-diversity loss.