Vice-President Hamid Ansari on Friday called attention to increasing economic inequality worldwide , and particularly in India with all its social and political consequences, pointing out how protest movements globally are fuelled by public despair.

Delivering the inaugural address, titled ‘Living in Febrile Times’, Ansari said, “We need to ask ourselves some uncomfortable questions. Such as ,can we just accept the growing insularity, intolerance and discrimination?”

Noting that the gap between the rich and poor shows no sign of narrowing, Ansari suggested that situation demands impatience with business-as-usual development policies. “Perhaps the time has come,” he said, “to move the development discourse beyond the current discussion of outcomes and opportunities.”

He cited the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report of 2017 to highlight the dangers of failing to bridge income inequality.