Ela Gandhi stressed that the wealthy should help the poor and deprived.

Inequality among the rich and poor is the biggest challenge facing the world, Mahatma Gandhi's granddaughter Ela Gandhi said yesterday.

The next generation needs to be developed to continue spreading the Mahatma's message of peace, Ela Gandhi said.

The world's biggest challenge is inequality and rising friction among the wealthy and poor, she said.

"In some areas there is so much poverty and elsewhere there is wealth just flowing. In a situation like that, there is bound to be friction," said Ela Gandhi who lives in South Africa and plans to visit India at the end of the year.

"We are trying to build the next generation to follow up. We are trying to have succession, so that other people can begin to take the message across," Ms Gandhi told PTI after a keynote address and interaction with students of the Global Indian International School.

At this stage, the Gandhi Development Trust is focusing a lot of attention on the pre-school level of children, "because we believe... if you teach the lesson of peace and values at early age it would be good," she said.

Ms Gandhi stressed that the wealthy should help the poor and deprived, the elderly and orphaned children who are just managing a meal a day, and called for a stop to exploitation of the poor.

She delivered her grandfather's messages of peace to the NRI community on Sunday and will be addressing Singapore's multi-racial community today as part of the Mahatma's 150th birthday celebrations.