Inclusive Development: Need of the Hour

-Hena Naqvi-
(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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