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Hope is a beautiful thing. Hope is dangerous too. The beauty lies in perceiving the danger and then finding the balance between expectations and reality. This balance depends on efforts and hard work put in an action. What one perceives at the onset of an action might not come true in reality. With this comes shattered dreams and pre-planned planning. Therefore ambivalence becomes a beauty when there is no certainty of outcome.
Don’t count your chickens before they hatch convey the same message. There are eggs but one cannot predict the number of chickens that will come out of those eggs. Some might die,some might crash and some might be eaten by others; hence one cannot be sure about the results. It will vary. It depends on the journey from hatching to birth.
Hatching to birth is a process which depends on a lot of factors; some can be controlled, some cannot.
Let’s consider few “chickens” and then process of “hatching to birth”. In our case “chicken” is a preferred outcome, a desired condition and the “hatching to birth (HTB)” is the process and the planning to achieve that.
We will see both domestic and international chickens.
In India recently there has been a paradigm change in governance. With that many chickens have been tossed in air, some are unique while many have been in “hatching” from a long time. Nonetheless these chickens have created a lot of hope, both within the country and outside it. Few of these chickens are: Make In India, Digital India, Skill India, Swatch Bharat Abhiyaan (SBA) etc.
Make in India is a chicken of high mass and great potential. Earlier this chicken has been left alone by its two brothers: the goat and the duck. Goat is agriculture and duck is services. Goat and duck both have flourished to a great extent, leaving chicken weak and feeble. The new focus on the ignored chicken has created global interests, but what about the HTB process. Until we have a strong HTB, the chicken will remain a mere slogan. To strengthen the HTB we need reforms like improving ease of doing business, curbing the red tapism, relaxing FDI norms, providing incentives and conceptualizing new investment models like “Plug and Play” , “Swiss challenge” ,Hybrid Annuity model(HAM) etc.
Similarly Digital India needs to be provided fodder in form of creation of broadband networks and other enabling environment. NOFN project, National E-governance programme and other external involvement like Project loon, free basics are mechanism to strengthen HTB process.
Skill India needs fodder in form of right training, skilled teacher and creation of many new ITIs where this chicken will be hatched.
SBA is again a chicken which is unique to India. Everyone has felt the need to breed this chicken but as said earlier the “expectations vs reality” depends on efforts and hard work put. SBA in form of new chicken has got sturdy wings. It is both supported by government and people. There is a behavioural change; there is a change in perception about cleanliness which is crucial for survival of this chicken.
All these example point out the need of resources and planning to achieve an outcome. Every programme is an investment, a dream, a desire. One can keep announcing the programmes and expect an outcome. But if there is no sincere effort put to achieve the plan, it will remain a mere statement and never become an outcome.
We will go back to history to see some international chickens and how they were hatched. Few were butchered; few flourished thus re-enforcing the belief in HTB process.
Today United Nations (UN) is seen as a successful international body which aims to ensure international peace and prosperity. But long ago before it was born it had a sister chicken, League of Nations (LN). LN was created after First World War to prevent another world war. In 1939 second world war took place. LN died. After Second World War UN was created .UN survived.
Going further back in History one might wonder about the nature of chickens. Are all chickens good?
The question can be answered only in the retrospect and not at its actual time of conception. Hitler was one such dictator who hatched a monstrous chicken. Even UK and France were unable to perceive the monstrosity of his hatching plan. They followed an “appeasement policy” which only encouraged Hitler to go nuts. He killed six million Jews, thousands of Serbs, attacked Poland and can rightly be held responsible for Second World War. Such a monstrous chicken could have been prevented from birth if League of Nations along with US, UK and France had taken the “culling action”.
Thus, one cannot predict the exact outcomes with full certainty. At the same time the nature of chicken also needs to be kept in mind. There will be some bad chickens and there will be some good chickens. First step is to find out the bad chickens and replace them with good chickens. Also, if some chickens are turning monstrous they need to be culled by collective efforts (The “missed” opportunity of Hitler Chicken and the current “ISIS chicken”). What will be the outcome will depend on the efforts put in. This is what humans can do, put the right efforts and leave results on God. Isn’t it the same What Krishana said to Arjuna in Bhagwat Geeta “ Your job is to fulfill your duties. You shouldn’t be worried about the results”. This message is essence to Hatching to Birth (HTB) process. If actions are right, results will be favorable; otherwise in which direction chicken will fly will remain a mystery till it actually flies.
I liked the introduction. Although the topic intends in using metaphor, but these i.e "chicken and eggs" need not be used or "sprayed" all over and in every other sentence. Well this could have been avoided by after each paragraph giving how it compares with ur original topic.
“Capital in the 21st century” is a magnificent book written by French Economist Thomas Piketty, in this book Piketty argues that wealth and income inequality in western countries is not a natural phenomenon but is the result of capitalism.
What Piketty proposed is very much true. Capitalism is based on individual ownership of firms and industrial units. Profit remains central to capitalism. Hence by its inherent nature those having access to capital will become progressively rich and labour class poor thus rich-poor gap will increase. This was also the basic premise for Marxian call for communism where Marx asked proletariat to root out bourgeois class because he believed that in capitalism the labor class will always be exploited and hence an economic system based on equal ownership of factor of production will be a better model.
These are all classic discourses of capitalism which more or less suggest that capitalism won’t bother about inclusive growth, a growth where all sections of society will be included. However the present realities and some “offshoots” defy this proposition. Capitalism can very well address the issue of inclusive growth and infact can complement state efforts for this cause.
The “offshoots” are the real game changer and can change all (mis)conceptions about capitalism.
We will take up the issue at two levels: at world level and India level.
In circa 17th century Industrial revolution began in England which can formally be taken as seeding of capitalism. By mid-18th century England was far ahead of other European countries because of its industrial progress. Other countries catched up soon, especially US emerged as the new player. By First World War capitalism was on rise and very few questioned about its relevance as an economic model. The biggest shock came from the great depression which engulfed the entire world after end of WW1. Kensysian emphasis on state intervention to bring socio-economic growth was seen as a challenge to capitalist model. This was one of the major arguments in favor of increasing state intervention. The “New Deal” and Currently Obama’s “Medicare Plan” can be seen as state intervention to bring equitable growth and prosperity, social security, employment and health care by state intervention in a hyperactive capitalist country. How does capitalism fare here?
As we will see there will be a difference in role, scope and impact of capitalism in different countries. It will be less orientated to inclusive growth in developed countries as compared to developing countries. The reasons are both structural and historical.
One can’t deny the fact that there are no poor in US. There are. But there is a difference in US’ poor and India’s poor. US’s average poor are still comparatively richer than India’s average poor. It is because of the prevailing economic realities. A state like US already has access to banking and credit facilities in remotest corners of the country. Same is missing in India. Hence “access to banking facilities”, one of the key component of Inclusive Growth is a big concern in India and that’s why recently many private banks( Payment banks and small banks) have been given chance to operate in India keeping precisely these concerns (increasing banking access in rural and remote areas) in mind. In India, the report of Nachiket Mor committee (a committee appointed by RBI, India’s central banking agency, to look into the matter of inclusive growth) proposed these new models. We don’t see a similar committee in US because it has already reached “saturation” point as far as access to banking facilities is concerned. In US or for that matter all European countries already have basic infascturue available for inclusive growth. Internet remains one of them. In India the emphasis on Digital India mission and focus on e-governance can radically change the growth inequalities. It can bring transparency and accountability in the system, the two components which are so badly needed in Indian governance model and which have potential to augment socio-economic development of all sections of society. Now how is one going to achieve that level of digital penetration?
Recently there has been huge uproar in India with respect to Net neutrality and digital access driven by Facebook’s free initiative “Free basics”. “An internet regime is not inclusive if majority cannot access it” has been proposed as one argument in favor of free basics which was vigorously refuted by pro-neutrality supporter. There is a truth to their concern.
Facebook’s free basics might be rejected but there have been similar efforts from companies like Google and Microsoft. Their technologies (Project loon of Google and White-Fi technology by Microsoft) can be utilized by governments to increase digital penetration. This is going to be crucial for India and all African countries.
At this point we can discuss the “offshoots” we introduced in the start.
Bill Gates and his wife Melinda Gates are great Philanthropists. The “Bill & Melinda Gates” foundation has financed many health missions in Africa and also in India. Their Philanthropic zeal is the new way capitalism can be effective in bringing changes. The role of angel investors and venture capitalists to promote start-ups, especially in socially and economically marginalized sections of society (Scheduled castes and Scheduled tribes of India) can be a new model of inclusive growth. These are the new “offshoots” of capitalism which was probably not conceived by Smithsonian Economists of Industrial Era.
Focus can be given also on smart cities and smart villages (Rurban mission in India, PURA model). To achieve this capitalism will be seen as a partner, as a dummy and as a supporter of Government’s original efforts. India’s PPP model is based on this aspect and which is now being promoted to other sectors of economy with new financing models.
Thus there are ample scopes for state to utilize capitalism to promote Inclusive growth. It can range from investment support to new technologies to creating enabling infrastructure. However one should always keep in mind that without government regulation there is equal chance that capitalism can turn out to be the dragon and the beast as it was perceived by Marx. So what we need is a complementary presence of both, statism as well as capitalism: probably an alliance of Smith, Marx and Keynes.
some additions can be - imbibing CSR culture - saving capitalism from capitalists. [avoiding 1930 like depression by caring other factors like employees, inflation] -[labor reforms, promoting unions, equal pay for equal work] etc. || although last line of ur essay inherently includes them||
The development of a society along economic, social and political lines can be termed as economic development. Human society has come a long way from its early hunter-gatherer days to the contemporary world of multi-functional robots and automated cars. This development of human society was aided by evolution of diversified means of production, establishment of institutions for banking, trade & commerce and acceptance of democracy & a rule based society across the globe.
The role of women in the process of economic development has seen many changes. These changes have been affected both by the desires of their male counterparts to assert their dominance over them and also; by the will and desires of women to create spaces and roles for themselves in the society. In the following lines we will see the different role played by women in economic development, the challenges faced by them and the various benefits that are gained when more and more women join and participate in economic development.
The earliest societies were hunter-gatherers in which men went for hunting and women were engaged in foraging and maintaining the household. This can be collaborated from the various petro-glyphs discovered around the world. Both women and men played an equally important role in survival; however it can be said that the differentiation among feminine (requiring less strength) and masculine (more strength) roles originated from here which continues to persist till today.
Even with the coming of settled societies and start of agriculture, women continued to play and equally important role. They participated in agriculture along with various economic activities like making jewellery, pottery etc. Archaeological evidence unearthed from Indus valley civilization points towards an important role and status of women in society.
As settled societies started turning into big consolidated states with powerful standing armies, women’s role started to recede. Another aspect which cropped up during this time were the class differences which meant the that the upper class women were confined to the households while the women in lower classes continued engaging in various occupations.
The 1st turning point perhaps came with the increased stronghold of religion over the society. Religious texts (e.g. Manu Smriti) portrayed women as an inferior being. Women were confined to the household, excluded from all economic activities and their subjugation was justified. This continued for a long time and a change could come only during the time of Industrial revolution.
Industrial revolution required a large number of workers and women came to be recruited into the workforce. The once so called inferior sex showed their mettle by working in equally tough and back breaking jobs. The ideas of enlightenment and renaissance were already popular by this time and their proponents advocated equal roles and rules for both men and women. Encouraged by their own liberation and by like minded men, women one-by-one started breaking all barriers and entered diverse economic fields ranging from natural to social sciences and also in manufacturing to literature. The record productions numbers achieved by all women production units in USA during the WW-2 showed that they are no less than their male counterparts. However, the struggle for political equality had to be waged on for a longer time and it is only now that women in developed countries have started to rival men in both numbers and roles. The situation although remains bleak in developing countries and LDC’s. With political power comes economic power as favourable policies are designed and discrimination done away with
Unfortunately, in terms of social development, there are many handicaps that are still faced by women particularly in the less developed areas. These social drawbacks prevent the women from making use of the economic potential to the fullest. It prevents women from entering into many jobs, restricts their work hours and poor state capacity makes them vulnerable.
If we talk about India, it can be said that women continue to face many disabilities and it has affected them from playing a substantial role in economic development. India has one of the lowest women labour force participation rates in the world. Global Wage Report by ILO states wide disparities in wages of men and women in India. Also, the role played by women in managing the household and in doing household duties is neglected. If put into monetary terms, it comes up to a substantial % of the Indian GDP. Women still make up only about 10% of the total elected representatives.
Despite all the inhibitors, women in India have not only excelled in many fields but also contributed significantly towards the economic development of the country. Educated women have broken long held barriers and have reached top positions in ISRO, banks and corporates among others. Some of the best doctors, journalists, teachers, bureaucrats and administrators that India has produced have been women. In-fact, women are now preferred over males due to their productivity, creativity and loyalty. In the political fields, top positions of the President, PM and CM’s have been held by women. Agriculture is increasingly becoming feminised in India with the migration of males towards cities. Women participation in MGNREGA now outshines the males. India could perhaps also draw lessons from matrilineal societies like Khasis of Meghalaya where the women have a more important and dominant role.
In the last few years, policy changes like Gender Budgeting and launch of women centred schemes by state and central govt. points towards the increasing appreciation and acceptance of the importance of attracting more and more women into the workforce.
The role played by women has gone a sea change from earlier times. Women have broken all barriers and all hegemonies of men. They have shown that they are capable of playing an equal role in the economic development of human society. Although pockets of resistance remains, men have also realised that the world can only progress ahead if the women are fully involved in economic development and all barriers erected against them removed.
“Imbalance between rich and the poor is the oldest and most fatal ailments of all republics” said the ancient roman historian Plutarch. Today in India, top 1% of income earners earn 22% of the nation’s wealth. At the turn of the millennium, the number was 15%. Economists believe that inequality in income is likely to increase further in the coming years. It is believed that as Indian economy grows, more and more Indians would be lifted out of poverty. This however, will only happen when the benefits accrue to all sections of the society rather than just to a privileged few. There are other forms of inequality, other than income inequality, such as gender inequality, discrimination on the basis of caste or religion or discrimination against handicapped persons.
Equality is not just a moral imperative. Empirical research shows that the countries which are more equitable, Scandinavian countries for example, fare better in terms of social indicators. Crime is less, stress level in population is low and life expectancy is higher. Studies show that when workplaces are gender equal, employees report higher level of job satisfaction. More people can contribute productively in a society where everyone is on a reasonably equal footing. Equality therefore can lead to economic growth.
Origins of Inequality Economic growth, it is believed, is almost always accompanied with some level of economic inequality. This is true to some degree since technological innovations which are drivers of economic growth, bring enormous benefits for the inventor. Globalisation is another factor that is held responsible. Opening up of the economy generally lowers prices of commodities, generates economic activity but it also puts small domestic firms in competition with big multi-national corporations. This can even lead to closure of small businesses and unemployment, especially in low skilled labour.
This is inequality, can be justified to some extent as being ‘fair', due to impersonal nature of the causes. There are other ‘unfair’ factors at play, that exacerbate the problem to a much greater extent. Big companies seek to distort the free market by rent seeking or lobbying. The rich find ways to evade taxed by manipulation of accounts and misuse of complex tax structures. Salaries of CEO in big business are hundred of times of a regular workers. Even when business profits grow, worker’s salaries stagnate.
In developing countries like India, the problem of income inequality is aggravated by poor public service delivery. It is the poorer sections of society that need the most assistance from the government. When the government fails to provide public services efficiently, poor are the worst affected. One good example of such a scenario is public health system in India. Government hospitals suffer from poor infrastructure, shortage of doctors and lack of quality. This forces people to turn towards private sector, which currently accounts for nearly 70% of healthcare delivery in India. Cost of healthcare is private sector however is very high. This coupled with other factors such as low penetration of health insurance in India, lead to high out of pocket expenditure. Poorer households lose their life savings due costly treatments and medicines. Similar situation is witnessed in the education sector. There are serious concerns about the quality of education in government schools. Children passing out of government schools, who are invariably from underprivileged backgrounds, are thus likely to face hurdles in getting quality employment.
Gender inequality and discrimination against physically or mentally challenged persons stem from social beliefs and traditions. Women have made significant progress on many fronts but significant challenges remain, especially in rural areas. The number of financially independent working women is rising but instances of sexual harassment at workplace and public places are still very common. Vulnerable sections such as transgender persons are asserting themselves and demanding for their rights. In recent years, number of incidents related to violence against Dalits or religious minorities have risen.
The way ahead Article 14 of the constitution states that all persons shall be equal before the law and shall enjoy equal protection of law. Further, Article 39 states that the state shall make endeavours to ensure equitable distribution of resources and adequate means of livelihood to all citizens. Ushering in social and economic inequality is therefore a constitutional obligation on the part of the state. Rising incidence of inequality in various spheres of life should serve as a call to action for the government and the civil society. There are several steps that could be taken.
First and foremost, government needs to improve service delivery in healthcare and education. Currently healthcare expenditure of the government is a meagre 1.3% of country’s GDP. This should be raised to at least 2.5% as outline in the National Health Policy 2017. Similarly, India spends around 3.6% of GDP on education. This needs to be raised to 6% as recommended by the recent T.S.R. Subramanian committee report. Higher fund allocation needs to be accompanied with better utilisation of funds. Regular monitoring, decentralisation of financial powers, social audits are some the measures that can help in this regard.
According to labour ministry data, nearly 1 million youth enter the workforce in India every month. We need to create more jobs, especially in labour intensive sectors. With rising wages, China is vacating its positions as the hub of manufacturing activity. India needs to capitalise on this opportunity. Government is trying to attract investment in electronic sectors through schemes such as M-SIPS. However more needs to be done. India needs to revitalise its SEZ programme though special tax incentives and faster clearances. Low skill manufacturing in sectors such as textiles and leather industry should also be promoted.
Economic Survey 2016-17 expounded the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI). This would be paid monthly to all citizens of the country unconditionally, so that they can access basic necessities of life. There are inherent challenges in implementing such a scheme. Most importantly, it would put an enormous financial burden on the state exchequers. Economic survey suggests winding up of government’s current welfare schemes to provide funds for a UBI, as these have suffered from problems of inefficiency and leakages. The concept of UBI needs to be further explored by the government. Small scale experiments can be organised in some districts to study the effects of such a programme.
57 billionaires in the country own as much wealth as the bottom 70% of the population. Government can consider bringing in an inheritance tax, which would be paid when accumulated wealth is transferred from parents to children, to ensure better distribution of wealth.
Past few years have seen a slew of progressive laws and Supreme Court judgements such as the Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment Act 2013, NALSA vs. Union of India judgement of Supreme court in favour of transgender rights, Mental Healthcare Act 2017 etc. Government should ensure adequate implementation of these acts and judgements. Measures are needed to promote harmony in the society. Strict action should be taken against those who promote bigotry and religious hatred.
Economic growth, social cohesion and poverty alleviation are interrelated phenomena. One can not take place without the other. The preamble to the constitution promises its citizens equality of status and opportunity. India needs to deliver on this promise if it is to overcome the ‘the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics’ that Plutarch forewarned us about.
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Comments
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B-ZO8tkvkrw6aDdiYUxNeWUwN00
Although the topic intends in using metaphor, but these i.e "chicken and eggs" need not be used or "sprayed" all over and in every other sentence. Well this could have been avoided by after each paragraph giving how it compares with ur original topic.
- imbibing CSR culture
- saving capitalism from capitalists. [avoiding 1930 like depression by caring other factors like employees, inflation]
-[labor reforms, promoting unions, equal pay for equal work] etc.
|| although last line of ur essay inherently includes them||
Women’s Role in Economic Development
The development of a society along economic, social and political lines can be termed as economic development. Human society has come a long way from its early hunter-gatherer days to the contemporary world of multi-functional robots and automated cars. This development of human society was aided by evolution of diversified means of production, establishment of institutions for banking, trade & commerce and acceptance of democracy & a rule based society across the globe.
The role of women in the process of economic development has seen many changes. These changes have been affected both by the desires of their male counterparts to assert their dominance over them and also; by the will and desires of women to create spaces and roles for themselves in the society. In the following lines we will see the different role played by women in economic development, the challenges faced by them and the various benefits that are gained when more and more women join and participate in economic development.
The earliest societies were hunter-gatherers in which men went for hunting and women were engaged in foraging and maintaining the household. This can be collaborated from the various petro-glyphs discovered around the world. Both women and men played an equally important role in survival; however it can be said that the differentiation among feminine (requiring less strength) and masculine (more strength) roles originated from here which continues to persist till today.
Even with the coming of settled societies and start of agriculture, women continued to play and equally important role. They participated in agriculture along with various economic activities like making jewellery, pottery etc. Archaeological evidence unearthed from Indus valley civilization points towards an important role and status of women in society.
As settled societies started turning into big consolidated states with powerful standing armies, women’s role started to recede. Another aspect which cropped up during this time were the class differences which meant the that the upper class women were confined to the households while the women in lower classes continued engaging in various occupations.
The 1st turning point perhaps came with the increased stronghold of religion over the society. Religious texts (e.g. Manu Smriti) portrayed women as an inferior being. Women were confined to the household, excluded from all economic activities and their subjugation was justified. This continued for a long time and a change could come only during the time of Industrial revolution.
Industrial revolution required a large number of workers and women came to be recruited into the workforce. The once so called inferior sex showed their mettle by working in equally tough and back breaking jobs. The ideas of enlightenment and renaissance were already popular by this time and their proponents advocated equal roles and rules for both men and women. Encouraged by their own liberation and by like minded men, women one-by-one started breaking all barriers and entered diverse economic fields ranging from natural to social sciences and also in manufacturing to literature. The record productions numbers achieved by all women production units in USA during the WW-2 showed that they are no less than their male counterparts.
However, the struggle for political equality had to be waged on for a longer time and it is only now that women in developed countries have started to rival men in both numbers and roles. The situation although remains bleak in developing countries and LDC’s. With political power comes economic power as favourable policies are designed and discrimination done away with
Unfortunately, in terms of social development, there are many handicaps that are still faced by women particularly in the less developed areas. These social drawbacks prevent the women from making use of the economic potential to the fullest. It prevents women from entering into many jobs, restricts their work hours and poor state capacity makes them vulnerable.
If we talk about India, it can be said that women continue to face many disabilities and it has affected them from playing a substantial role in economic development. India has one of the lowest women labour force participation rates in the world. Global Wage Report by ILO states wide disparities in wages of men and women in India. Also, the role played by women in managing the household and in doing household duties is neglected. If put into monetary terms, it comes up to a substantial % of the Indian GDP. Women still make up only about 10% of the total elected representatives.
Despite all the inhibitors, women in India have not only excelled in many fields but also contributed significantly towards the economic development of the country. Educated women have broken long held barriers and have reached top positions in ISRO, banks and corporates among others. Some of the best doctors, journalists, teachers, bureaucrats and administrators that India has produced have been women. In-fact, women are now preferred over males due to their productivity, creativity and loyalty. In the political fields, top positions of the President, PM and CM’s have been held by women. Agriculture is increasingly becoming feminised in India with the migration of males towards cities. Women participation in MGNREGA now outshines the males. India could perhaps also draw lessons from matrilineal societies like Khasis of Meghalaya where the women have a more important and dominant role.
In the last few years, policy changes like Gender Budgeting and launch of women centred schemes by state and central govt. points towards the increasing appreciation and acceptance of the importance of attracting more and more women into the workforce.
The role played by women has gone a sea change from earlier times. Women have broken all barriers and all hegemonies of men. They have shown that they are capable of playing an equal role in the economic development of human society. Although pockets of resistance remains, men have also realised that the world can only progress ahead if the women are fully involved in economic development and all barriers erected against them removed.
Title: Inequality in India
“Imbalance between rich and the poor is the oldest and most fatal ailments of all republics” said the ancient roman historian Plutarch. Today in India, top 1% of income earners earn 22% of the nation’s wealth. At the turn of the millennium, the number was 15%. Economists believe that inequality in income is likely to increase further in the coming years. It is believed that as Indian economy grows, more and more Indians would be lifted out of poverty. This however, will only happen when the benefits accrue to all sections of the society rather than just to a privileged few. There are other forms of inequality, other than income inequality, such as gender inequality, discrimination on the basis of caste or religion or discrimination against handicapped persons.
Equality is not just a moral imperative. Empirical research shows that the countries which are more equitable, Scandinavian countries for example, fare better in terms of social indicators. Crime is less, stress level in population is low and life expectancy is higher. Studies show that when workplaces are gender equal, employees report higher level of job satisfaction. More people can contribute productively in a society where everyone is on a reasonably equal footing. Equality therefore can lead to economic growth.
Origins of Inequality
Economic growth, it is believed, is almost always accompanied with some level of economic inequality. This is true to some degree since technological innovations which are drivers of economic growth, bring enormous benefits for the inventor. Globalisation is another factor that is held responsible. Opening up of the economy generally lowers prices of commodities, generates economic activity but it also puts small domestic firms in competition with big multi-national corporations. This can even lead to closure of small businesses and unemployment, especially in low skilled labour.
This is inequality, can be justified to some extent as being ‘fair', due to impersonal nature of the causes. There are other ‘unfair’ factors at play, that exacerbate the problem to a much greater extent. Big companies seek to distort the free market by rent seeking or lobbying. The rich find ways to evade taxed by manipulation of accounts and misuse of complex tax structures. Salaries of CEO in big business are hundred of times of a regular workers. Even when business profits grow, worker’s salaries stagnate.
In developing countries like India, the problem of income inequality is aggravated by poor public service delivery. It is the poorer sections of society that need the most assistance from the government. When the government fails to provide public services efficiently, poor are the worst affected. One good example of such a scenario is public health system in India. Government hospitals suffer from poor infrastructure, shortage of doctors and lack of quality. This forces people to turn towards private sector, which currently accounts for nearly 70% of healthcare delivery in India. Cost of healthcare is private sector however is very high. This coupled with other factors such as low penetration of health insurance in India, lead to high out of pocket expenditure. Poorer households lose their life savings due costly treatments and medicines. Similar situation is witnessed in the education sector. There are serious concerns about the quality of education in government schools. Children passing out of government schools, who are invariably from underprivileged backgrounds, are thus likely to face hurdles in getting quality employment.
Gender inequality and discrimination against physically or mentally challenged persons stem from social beliefs and traditions. Women have made significant progress on many fronts but significant challenges remain, especially in rural areas. The number of financially independent working women is rising but instances of sexual harassment at workplace and public places are still very common. Vulnerable sections such as transgender persons are asserting themselves and demanding for their rights. In recent years, number of incidents related to violence against Dalits or religious minorities have risen.
The way ahead
Article 14 of the constitution states that all persons shall be equal before the law and shall enjoy equal protection of law. Further, Article 39 states that the state shall make endeavours to ensure equitable distribution of resources and adequate means of livelihood to all citizens. Ushering in social and economic inequality is therefore a constitutional obligation on the part of the state. Rising incidence of inequality in various spheres of life should serve as a call to action for the government and the civil society. There are several steps that could be taken.
First and foremost, government needs to improve service delivery in healthcare and education. Currently healthcare expenditure of the government is a meagre 1.3% of country’s GDP. This should be raised to at least 2.5% as outline in the National Health Policy 2017. Similarly, India spends around 3.6% of GDP on education. This needs to be raised to 6% as recommended by the recent T.S.R. Subramanian committee report. Higher fund allocation needs to be accompanied with better utilisation of funds. Regular monitoring, decentralisation of financial powers, social audits are some the measures that can help in this regard.
According to labour ministry data, nearly 1 million youth enter the workforce in India every month. We need to create more jobs, especially in labour intensive sectors. With rising wages, China is vacating its positions as the hub of manufacturing activity. India needs to capitalise on this opportunity. Government is trying to attract investment in electronic sectors through schemes such as M-SIPS. However more needs to be done. India needs to revitalise its SEZ programme though special tax incentives and faster clearances. Low skill manufacturing in sectors such as textiles and leather industry should also be promoted.
Economic Survey 2016-17 expounded the idea of a Universal Basic Income (UBI). This would be paid monthly to all citizens of the country unconditionally, so that they can access basic necessities of life. There are inherent challenges in implementing such a scheme. Most importantly, it would put an enormous financial burden on the state exchequers. Economic survey suggests winding up of government’s current welfare schemes to provide funds for a UBI, as these have suffered from problems of inefficiency and leakages. The concept of UBI needs to be further explored by the government. Small scale experiments can be organised in some districts to study the effects of such a programme.
57 billionaires in the country own as much wealth as the bottom 70% of the population. Government can consider bringing in an inheritance tax, which would be paid when accumulated wealth is transferred from parents to children, to ensure better distribution of wealth.
Past few years have seen a slew of progressive laws and Supreme Court judgements such as the Protection of Women from Sexual Harassment Act 2013, NALSA vs. Union of India judgement of Supreme court in favour of transgender rights, Mental Healthcare Act 2017 etc. Government should ensure adequate implementation of these acts and judgements. Measures are needed to promote harmony in the society. Strict action should be taken against those who promote bigotry and religious hatred.
Economic growth, social cohesion and poverty alleviation are interrelated phenomena. One can not take place without the other. The preamble to the constitution promises its citizens equality of status and opportunity. India needs to deliver on this promise if it is to overcome the ‘the oldest and most fatal ailment of all republics’ that Plutarch forewarned us about.