Causes of Income Inequality in India
भारत में आय असमानता के कारण:-
According to the United Nations, ‘the state of not being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities’ is said to be inequality. Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Indian Constitution guarantee the Right to Equality as a fundamental right.
संयुक्त राष्ट्र के अनुसार, 'समान न होने की अवस्था, विशेषकर हैसियत, अधिकार और अवसरों में' असमानता कहलाती है। भारतीय संविधान के अनुच्छेद 14, 15 और 16 समानता के अधिकार को मौलिक अधिकार के रूप में गारंटी देते हैं
Also, Sustainable Development Goal 10 aims to reduce inequalities in the world. In this article, we learn more about the types of inequalities and the steps to be taken to reduce the same.
Social Inequality and its causes
सामाजिक असमानता और इसके कारण:-
Social inequality, in India can be broadly divided into Caste inequality, Regional inequality and Gender inequality.
भारत में सामाजिक असमानता को मोटे तौर पर जाति असमानता, क्षेत्रीय असमानता और लिंग असमानता में विभाजित किया जा सकता है।
• Caste Inequality: The issue of caste inequality comes from the concept of ‘pure’ and ‘polluted.’ The upper castes are considered to be pure, while the lower castes are conceived to be polluted. The basis for this inequality is birth. The causes of caste inequality are as follows:
• जाति असमानता: जाति असमानता का मुद्दा 'शुद्ध' और 'प्रदूषित' की अवधारणा से आता है। उच्च जातियों को शुद्ध माना जाता है, जबकि निचली जातियों को प्रदूषित माना जाता है। इस असमानता का आधार जन्म है। जाति असमानता के कारण इस प्रकार हैं:
• Staunch belief in religious practices that have been in place for thousands of years
• Feeling of superiority and prestige
• People marrying within their own caste (caste endogamy) and developing loyalties towards their own castes
• Lack of education, which leads to people remaining ignorant and orthodox
• The old practice of social distancing from people belonging to lower castes has been deeply engraved in people’s lives and it further widens the gap
Regional Inequality
क्षेत्रीय असमानता:-
Regional inequality is another major problem in India. The root cause of this is the British Raj. The British rulers tried to develop only a few select places that could be beneficial for them so as to attain their economic interests. But there are more causes to this, as have been listed below:
भारत में क्षेत्रीय असमानता एक और बड़ी समस्या है। इसका मूल कारण ब्रिटिश राज है। ब्रिटिश शासकों ने केवल कुछ चुनिंदा स्थानों को विकसित करने का प्रयास किया जो उनके लिए फायदेमंद हो सकते थे ताकि उनके आर्थिक हितों को प्राप्त किया जा सके। लेकिन इसके और भी कारण हैं, जैसा कि नीचे सूचीबद्ध किया गया है:
• Some regions, such as the northeastern states, are geographically disadvantaged and have remained disconnected from ‘Mainland’ India for years together.
• A great number of regions, due to lack of infrastructure, have remained cut from the market while many others have had the resources to make use of and grow economically.
• Not all governments have been very keen on good governance and these political factors have also highly influenced a region’s performance.
• The coastal states mostly do well when it comes to development and this is because trade is very feasible for them.
Gender Inequality
लिंग असमानता:-
The issue of women being inferior to men has been there for years. There have been many instances of discrimination against women in the form of dowry deaths, sexual harassment cases, lesser pay for women for the same amount of work done, sex-selective abortions, child marriages, high dropout rates amongst girl children among many others. The following are the causes for gender inequality:
महिलाओं के पुरुषों से कमतर होने का मामला वर्षों से चला आ रहा है। दहेज हत्या, यौन उत्पीड़न के मामले, महिलाओं के लिए समान काम के लिए कम वेतन, लिंग-चयनात्मक गर्भपात, बाल विवाह, लड़कियों के बीच उच्च ड्रॉपआउट दर के रूप में महिलाओं के साथ भेदभाव के कई उदाहरण हैं। लैंगिक असमानता के निम्नलिखित कारण हैं:
• Girls not being knowledgeable enough due to lack of education and eventually remaining downtrodden.
• The absence of a woman’s control over her own body while it comes to abortion rights.
• The poor quality of healthcare (sometimes even lack of healthcare) provided for mothers as well as children
• Though seats in various political bodies have been reserved for women through laws, they are not being implemented properly.
• Violence against women is seen as a characteristic feature of being born as one and is normalized; Speaking up against sexual assault is never an option for a woman in India and this should change.
• The mindset of people with respect to educating girl children as well as treating them well hasn’t been up to the mark and girl children are still seen to grow into homemakers.
• Lack of legal protection for women against marital rape and such
Economic Inequality and its causes
आर्थिक असमानता और इसके कारण:-
According to Credit Suisse, the richest 1% of Indians holds 53% of the total wealth of the country. This highly alarming phenomenon is economic inequality. The following are the major causes of economic inequality:
• Lack of vocational training eventually leads to unskilled labor taking up petty jobs for the sake of livelihood.
• Vicious circle of poverty due to which the economically poorer sections of the society don’t have enough money to hone their skills and are stuck in poverty.
• Unemployment, which leads to lesser productivity amongst the working-class population, pushes people into poverty and eventually increases economic inequality.
• Poor people from rural areas migrating to urban areas don’t have job opportunities.
• Institutions like caste discourage people from the lower castes from taking up professions that have been meant for the upper castes historically.
• There has been a failure in the development of an export-oriented economy.
• The tax regime in India slaps high rates of taxes on the rich and they try to escape them all together while the middle class pays its share of taxes.
• Most people in the country still practice agriculture wherein they earn very meager incomes or in the worst case, even get trapped in debts.
• People owning buildings and other properties that are leased out, try to get as much income as possible from the tenants- thus exploiting them.
Inequality based on class is a form of economic inequality. Mostly, in the case of urban areas, there is lesser prevalence of caste and a high prevalence of class. Caste is determined by one’s birth into a family while class is determined by the economic position of the family.
Steps to be taken to Reduce Inequality
असमानता को कम करने के लिए उठाए जाने वाले कदम:-
Sustainable Development cannot be achieved without reducing inequalities. Addressing them is extremely important in order to tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems. The following are the feasible measures that can help overcome inequalities:
There have been steps taken under protective discrimination for various sections of the society (Women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Economically Weaker Sections etc.) but the provisions have not been implemented on the ground.
The tax base should be broadened and there should be better monitoring of the financial transactions.
Many people from the agricultural sector who are unskilled are entering the market to perform labor-intensive jobs and these must be tapped in order to make the best utilization out of the available human resources.
Sectors such as Textiles, Consumer Goods, Automobiles and such have been on the decline and the government needs to give them a push.
It is important that the governments are more transparent about the amount of money they are spending on various schemes and give importance to sectors such as education, healthcare, and sanitation, clean drinking water, etc.
The historically oppressed sections of the society need to have a platform wherein they can discuss, deliberate, and collaborate to achieve their needs.
Awareness with respect to women empowerment needs to be spread, and there should be discourses surrounding equal wages for both men and women, facilitating for the education of girl children, ensuring there is no discrimination against anyone based on their gender, etc.
सामाजिक असमानता और इसके कारण:-
Social inequality, in India can be broadly divided into Caste inequality, Regional inequality and Gender inequality.
भारत में सामाजिक असमानता को मोटे तौर पर जाति असमानता, क्षेत्रीय असमानता और लिंग असमानता में विभाजित किया जा सकता है।
• Caste Inequality: The issue of caste inequality comes from the concept of ‘pure’ and ‘polluted.’ The upper castes are considered to be pure, while the lower castes are conceived to be polluted. The basis for this inequality is birth. The causes of caste inequality are as follows:
• जाति असमानता: जाति असमानता का मुद्दा 'शुद्ध' और 'प्रदूषित' की अवधारणा से आता है। उच्च जातियों को शुद्ध माना जाता है, जबकि निचली जातियों को प्रदूषित माना जाता है। इस असमानता का आधार जन्म है। जाति असमानता के कारण इस प्रकार हैं:
• Staunch belief in religious practices that have been in place for thousands of years
• Feeling of superiority and prestige
• People marrying within their own caste (caste endogamy) and developing loyalties towards their own castes
• Lack of education, which leads to people remaining ignorant and orthodox
• The old practice of social distancing from people belonging to lower castes has been deeply engraved in people’s lives and it further widens the gap
Regional Inequality
क्षेत्रीय असमानता:-
Regional inequality is another major problem in India. The root cause of this is the British Raj. The British rulers tried to develop only a few select places that could be beneficial for them so as to attain their economic interests. But there are more causes to this, as have been listed below:
भारत में क्षेत्रीय असमानता एक और बड़ी समस्या है। इसका मूल कारण ब्रिटिश राज है। ब्रिटिश शासकों ने केवल कुछ चुनिंदा स्थानों को विकसित करने का प्रयास किया जो उनके लिए फायदेमंद हो सकते थे ताकि उनके आर्थिक हितों को प्राप्त किया जा सके। लेकिन इसके और भी कारण हैं, जैसा कि नीचे सूचीबद्ध किया गया है:
• Some regions, such as the northeastern states, are geographically disadvantaged and have remained disconnected from ‘Mainland’ India for years together.
• A great number of regions, due to lack of infrastructure, have remained cut from the market while many others have had the resources to make use of and grow economically.
• Not all governments have been very keen on good governance and these political factors have also highly influenced a region’s performance.
• The coastal states mostly do well when it comes to development and this is because trade is very feasible for them.
Gender Inequality
लिंग असमानता:-
The issue of women being inferior to men has been there for years. There have been many instances of discrimination against women in the form of dowry deaths, sexual harassment cases, lesser pay for women for the same amount of work done, sex-selective abortions, child marriages, high dropout rates amongst girl children among many others. The following are the causes for gender inequality:
महिलाओं के पुरुषों से कमतर होने का मामला वर्षों से चला आ रहा है। दहेज हत्या, यौन उत्पीड़न के मामले, महिलाओं के लिए समान काम के लिए कम वेतन, लिंग-चयनात्मक गर्भपात, बाल विवाह, लड़कियों के बीच उच्च ड्रॉपआउट दर के रूप में महिलाओं के साथ भेदभाव के कई उदाहरण हैं। लैंगिक असमानता के निम्नलिखित कारण हैं:
• Girls not being knowledgeable enough due to lack of education and eventually remaining downtrodden.
• The absence of a woman’s control over her own body while it comes to abortion rights.
• The poor quality of healthcare (sometimes even lack of healthcare) provided for mothers as well as children
• Though seats in various political bodies have been reserved for women through laws, they are not being implemented properly.
• Violence against women is seen as a characteristic feature of being born as one and is normalized; Speaking up against sexual assault is never an option for a woman in India and this should change.
• The mindset of people with respect to educating girl children as well as treating them well hasn’t been up to the mark and girl children are still seen to grow into homemakers.
• Lack of legal protection for women against marital rape and such
Economic Inequality and its causes
आर्थिक असमानता और इसके कारण:-
According to Credit Suisse, the richest 1% of Indians holds 53% of the total wealth of the country. This highly alarming phenomenon is economic inequality. The following are the major causes of economic inequality:
• Lack of vocational training eventually leads to unskilled labor taking up petty jobs for the sake of livelihood.
• Vicious circle of poverty due to which the economically poorer sections of the society don’t have enough money to hone their skills and are stuck in poverty.
• Unemployment, which leads to lesser productivity amongst the working-class population, pushes people into poverty and eventually increases economic inequality.
• Poor people from rural areas migrating to urban areas don’t have job opportunities.
• Institutions like caste discourage people from the lower castes from taking up professions that have been meant for the upper castes historically.
• There has been a failure in the development of an export-oriented economy.
• The tax regime in India slaps high rates of taxes on the rich and they try to escape them all together while the middle class pays its share of taxes.
• Most people in the country still practice agriculture wherein they earn very meager incomes or in the worst case, even get trapped in debts.
• People owning buildings and other properties that are leased out, try to get as much income as possible from the tenants- thus exploiting them.
Inequality based on class is a form of economic inequality. Mostly, in the case of urban areas, there is lesser prevalence of caste and a high prevalence of class. Caste is determined by one’s birth into a family while class is determined by the economic position of the family.
Steps to be taken to Reduce Inequality
असमानता को कम करने के लिए उठाए जाने वाले कदम:-
Sustainable Development cannot be achieved without reducing inequalities. Addressing them is extremely important in order to tackle some of the world’s most pressing problems. The following are the feasible measures that can help overcome inequalities:
There have been steps taken under protective discrimination for various sections of the society (Women, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Economically Weaker Sections etc.) but the provisions have not been implemented on the ground.
The tax base should be broadened and there should be better monitoring of the financial transactions.
Many people from the agricultural sector who are unskilled are entering the market to perform labor-intensive jobs and these must be tapped in order to make the best utilization out of the available human resources.
Sectors such as Textiles, Consumer Goods, Automobiles and such have been on the decline and the government needs to give them a push.
It is important that the governments are more transparent about the amount of money they are spending on various schemes and give importance to sectors such as education, healthcare, and sanitation, clean drinking water, etc.
The historically oppressed sections of the society need to have a platform wherein they can discuss, deliberate, and collaborate to achieve their needs.
Awareness with respect to women empowerment needs to be spread, and there should be discourses surrounding equal wages for both men and women, facilitating for the education of girl children, ensuring there is no discrimination against anyone based on their gender, etc.
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