Inclusive Development: Need of the Hour
-Hena Naqvi-
(Copyright protected)
(Copyright protected)
“………Statistics of
economic growth will count for nothing if we are not able to uplift the
marginalized sections of the society. Our growth must have to be inclusive
and sustainable……” Excerpts from the speech of Shri Pranab Mukharjee, honourable
President of India on ‘good governance: Empowering Institutions, Society and
Public’ on the occasion of Golden Jubilee celebrations of the CBI at Vigyan
Bhawan on April 6, 2013 (excerpts published in ‘Employment News’, 20-26 April,
2013). Mention of the term 'inclusive' growth hints towards presence of ‘exclusion’
as a significant hurdle for the inclusive growth. Both the terms ‘exclusion’
and ‘inclusive growth’ have been finding attention
at national as well as international platforms of development in recent times. The terms are useful for all those who are
concerned with the contemporary development sector, polity, economy, studies
of ethnic groups, human rights, gender development and empowerment of the PwDs (persons with
disabilities).
Various negative elements like lack
of participation, inequality, absence of opportunities, absence of access
to rights and opportunities have combined together to give way to the term
‘exclusion’. From a layperson’s point
of view; exclusion can be seen as- ‘setting apart’, ‘leaving behind’, ‘denial’
or ‘pushing towards the margin’. It is
often seen as ‘a synonym of poverty’ or a condition of lack of participation. But
poverty or lack of participation is just
a part of the syndrome called exclusion. According to a report of the International
Labour Organisation (ILO report) of the
year 1995; ‘excluded persons or groups are seen to be in a situation of
disadvantage ... beyond a narrow definition of poverty as lack of income or
material possessions ... they are socially isolated in some sense, ... they
“have”, or experience, weak social relatedness ... may lack ties to the family,
local community, voluntary associations, trade unions or even the nation ... they
may be disadvantaged in terms of the extent of their legal rights. ..”. Various
constituents of exclusion appear on the scene from this discussion. These are
–economic hardship, lack of resources, gap from the mainstream (society,
nation….) and lack of access to rights. That is why; exclusion is said
to be multi-dimensional which results in multiple deprivations. In most cases, one type of exclusion leads to
another type and adds to hardship and sufferings of the excluded groups.
Who are excluded other than
the poor or resource-less?
Robin Peace in Social
Policy Journal of New Zealand, July 2001 says, ‘exclusion not only refers to range of phenomena and
processes ….. but it is also used in relation to a wide range of categories of
excluded people and places of exclusion’.
He suggests three faces of exclusion (that help in identification of
excluded groups): Economic, Social and
Political
Each of these has
several dimensions. The economic aspect of exclusion includes lack of access to
basic needs (poverty), unemployment, under-employment and lack of access to
assets or resources.
The social aspect of
exclusion encompasses elements like lack of access to opportunities and entitlements,
lack of participation in the development process and isolation from the
mainstream of society/nation.
On the political front,
exclusion suggests deprivation from political rights. This can be- no
participation in the decision-making mechanism (e.g. electoral process) or no/low
voice in the governance (like open meetings of the panchayats or standing
committees of the panchayats)
Each aspect has
different categories of excluded groups (This is an indicative list; there can
be many more excluded groups).
Type of exclusion
|
Excluded groups
|
Economic
|
The poor (not having the minimum resources to live with) like daily wagers, migrants, landless labourers,
artisans, small and marginal farmers, petty traders, the unemployed, the under-employed, bonded labourers etc.
|
Social
|
Women, ethnic and religious minorities, illiterate groups, PwDs,
malnourished groups (including women and children), child labourers, widows, women
and children in difficult circumstances, persons living with HIV/AIDS, the
elderly, the disaster victims, etc.
|
Political
|
Migrants, ethnic and religious minorities, population living in remote
and difficult areas
|
Some
representative-indicators of exclusion in India
Following
representative- indicators can be
helpful to understand the practical dimensions of exclusion in our country:
Poverty: Further from honourble president's historic speech; “the incidence of poverty is
still around 30 percent and it is not something that we can live with”. This
implies that 30% of the Indian population is deprived of the basic needs like
food, clothing, shelter, health and education.
Considering this data
as a tip of the iceberg, we can understand the magnitude of poverty in our
country and the hardship faced by the poor.
Sex ratio:
The present sex ratio (number of women per thousand men) and child sex ratio of the country are
respectively - 940 and 914 (Census 2011). The figures very well depict the
exclusion story of women in the country. The problem is a manifestation of
various direct and indirect problems and the negative attitude towards girl
child. There are also a state and a union
territory like Kerala and Puducherry with a sex ratio of 1084 and 1038
respectively (as per Census 2011). The figures are the results of the extra
efforts taken to include the women in the development process through various
ways and means and to sensitize the respective societies on these issues. Learnings of this inclusive growth need to be replicated throughout the country especially
in the states having skewed sex ratio.
Literacy: The overall literacy
rate of India is 74.04% as per Census 2011. As per gender division of this
data; 82.14% males and 65.46% females are literate. This implies that 25.69% of
the Indian population is educationally excluded. From gender perspective; 34.54%
Indian women (already an excluded group) are away from the light of education. Thus,
they have to face the dual burden of education.
Maternal /infant
mortality: The maternal mortality rate (number of women dying due to maternal
causes per 1, 00,000 live births) was 212 during 2007-09 while the infant
mortality rate (< 1 year deaths per 1000 live births) was 50/live births in
the year 2009 as per Family Welfare Statistics, Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare, Government of India. The twin indicator is an outcome of the
negligence with pregnant women during pregnancy and with the mother-child after
the delivery. Community’s lack of access to health services due to several
reasons including ignorance is the prime factor due to which pregnant women are
neglected in terms of proper care and nutritional needs. This leads to
complicated pregnancy and results in maternal/infant deaths.
Inclusion: A remedy
vis-à-vis a strategy to promote inclusive development in the country
In view of diversified types of
exclusion and excluded groups; inclusion appears to be the solution as well as a
weapon against exclusion. It is also a remedy and a workable strategy to
promote inclusive development. The ultimate
goal of inclusive development is an integration of the excluded groups in the
process of development or in the mainstream of society (or nation) for the
establishment of a ‘just’ and egalitarian society. To quote again from honourble president's above-mentioned speech; ‘inclusiveness calls for equity in access
to basic needs like education and health care’. So, we get a new term called ‘equity’
in the context of inclusion. There are also terms like access, integration and
incorporation in vogue in this context.
The process of
inclusive development should ensure that the excluded groups:
- access a smooth flow of their rights, entitlements and opportunities.
- are integrated/incorporated in the mainstream of society and in the process of development.
- get an equity of opportunities and entitlements.
- participate in the process/mechanism of decision making on the issue that concern them.
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