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As it flagged billionaires usurping the political landscape globally, rights group Oxfam on Monday cited India’s reservation system as a “compelling” example of progress on how ordinary people can be politically empowered.

In its annual inequality report released here on the first day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, attended by rich and powerful from across the world, Oxfam International said billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary citizens.

Making a case for building ‘the power of the many’, Oxfam said ordinary people become powerful in a political system where political, institutional, and social conditions increase their capacity to influence decision-making despite structural inequality.

“This happens when institutional inclusiveness, political incentives for responsiveness, collective organisation, effective governance and ideological commitments align.

“Non-state actors such as CSOs, grassroots movements and trade unions are natural allies of states in building greater political engagement from under-represented communities, and ensuring access for all to meaningful participation in policymaking,” Oxfam said in the report, titled ‘Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Protecting Freedom from Billionaire Power’.

It said there are some compelling examples of progress on this crucial issue. “In India, for example, political reservations (quotas) for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other marginalised groups create opportunities for economically disadvantaged and socially excluded communities to gain legislative representation and push redistributive policies,” Oxfam said.

India provides reservations for SCs and STs, as well as a few other sections, in legislatures, as per their population, while it has recently also announced 33 per cent for women. In addition to these categories, there are reservations for other weaker and marginalised groups as well in education and government jobs.

Report also cites Brazil’s Participatory Budgeting

Oxfam also cited the example of Brazil’s Participatory Budgeting that emerged in the 1990s and saw significant expansion during the 2000s.

“Its most prominent example was the city of Porto Alegre, whose experience became an international reference in participatory democracy by allowing citizens to directly decide on portions of the municipal public budget,” Oxfam said.

The report said governments must guarantee an enabling civic space, in line with international legal frameworks, standards and guidance to build the political power of the many.

Oxfam called for governments to publicly commit to and act on protecting and promoting freedom of expression, assembly and association (including online) for citizens, movements, journalists and organisations to be able to organise, speak up and protest.

It also advocated ensuring transparency and accountability around the upholding of these standards, and guaranteeing this through regular reporting and scrutiny by both state and non-state actors, as well as granting access to resources and information for individuals and organisations