Inequity towards vulnerable sections growing in India; not a healthy sign for world's largest democracy

One of Plato's most criticised ideas was that the object of political philosophy consisted of answering the question, "who should rule ?" and how to educate those who would govern. Considering the political scenario in India as of now, Plato's idea is definitely going to have a setback, particularly when the vulnerable sections are reduced to the minute identity of voters.

Disturbances and insecurity have undeniably impacted the lives of certain vulnerable sections of the country in recent years. The recent incidents of vandalism of a statue of Jesus Christ at the Holy Redeemer Catholic Church in Ambala and hate speeches delivered for calling for the genocide of minorities simply imply that the world's largest democracy should not be defined as rule by majority vote with the minority facing authoritative expression.

Women

The past few years have spelled a lot of disasters for Indian women, and much of the progress achieved in making India a gender-equal society has been hampered by cases like Hathras Gang-Rape and Murder in Uttar Pradesh, Delhi's Nangal minor rape case and many more. The political structure has played an active role in making the country’s public spaces unsafe for women, and leaders across party lines have made unapologetic comments that demean women. In some cases, leaders have also misused state machinery to deny justice to rape survivors and their families.

The Women's Reservation Bill, which was passed by the Rajya Sabha under UPA-II, lapsed with the dissolution of the 15th Lok Sabha in 2014. Despite the BJP’s substantial majority in parliament and three consecutive election manifesto promises to provide 33% reservation for women in parliamentary and state assemblies through a constitutional amendment, the ruling party has made no progress on this crucial legislation. The government has also failed to act on the Law Commission’s recommendation in 2018 that women should be given an equal share of property acquired after marriage, despite the ruling party’s promises to remove gender disparities in property rights, marital rights, and cohabitation rights.

According to the Economic Survey of India (ESI) 2021, females in the productive age (15–59 years) had a labour force participation rate (LFPR) of only 26.5 per cent in 2018–19. According to a study conducted by the United Nations Global Compact, this percentage will be 24.8 per cent in 2020. Women's absence from the labour force impedes their own empowerment as well as the country's Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Women's lives have also been influenced by schemes like Beti Bachao and Beti Padhao.

In a survey conducted by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, India emerged as the world’s most dangerous country for women in 2018. An analysis of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) "Crime in India" report for 2019 shows a shocking increase of 31.11% in crimes against women. While the government made tall claims about increasing women's security and said it was a priority for them, India recorded at least 88 rapes every day in 2019, on average, with a total of 32,033 cases. Meanwhile, the conviction rate for crimes against women has been on a steady decline. In 2014, the national average was 21%, which came down to 18.9% in 2016, the lowest in over 14 years. Despite promises to make the National Nutrition Movement a mass movement, the Fifth National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5) released in December 2020 revealed that anaemia in women has worsened in the past half-a-decade across most states and union territories. For women aged 15–49 years, 16 states saw an increase in cases of anaemia.

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes

The government at the centre and many in the states have impudently ignored legislation that protects members of the Dalit community and has perpetuated a discriminatory culture against vulnerable communities in general. There is a systematic casteist mindset reflected in the attitude of politicians across party lines. From being termed as "dogs" by a union minister and subjected to various sorts of harassment, the oppression of the Dalit community never seems to terminate and instead continues to shed the colonial mindset.

NCRB data reveals that between 2013 and 2019, atrocities against SCs and STs have increased significantly.

In sharp contrast to the ruling party’s manifesto promise to eliminate manual scavenging, there were 340 deaths from manual scavenging reported in the 5 years up to December 31, 2020.As per the NCRB data for 2019, there are a minimum of 10 reported cases of rape of Dalit women and 5 of tribal women every day.

The Union Budget for 2021-22 reflected the deprivation of Dalits and Adivasis of their share of allocations. The gap in the budget for SCs between what should be their share based on their share of the population and the actual budget allocation was Rs. 1,12,863 crores, while that of STs was Rs. 60,247 crores. No budgetary allocations were made for Pre-Matric Scholarships for children whose parents engage in occupations involving cleaning and those that are prone to health hazards, i.e., including manual scavengers.

The government seeks to deny rights over ‘Jal, Jungle and Jameen’ to Adivasis by diluting the Forest Rights Act, 2006. As per the official government dashboard, a massive 41% of claims under the FRA have been rejected as of December 31, 2020. The proposed National Register of Citizens (NRC) will have a damaging effect on Adivasis, who may not possess the documentation required to prove their identities, despite being indigenous dwellers of the land.

People With Disabilities

The government has consistently neglected people with disabilities, with expenditure allocation over the past few years amounting to a meagre 0.02% to 0.04%, despite this community accounting for 2.1% of the total population as per Census 2011. The budgetary allocation for the Department for FY22 was slashed by almost 12% and does not provide for any schemes for inclusion for persons with disabilities, despite inclusion being one of the six “pillars” of the budget. A number of key schemes have had their budgets significantly reduced, while others had them slashed to zero, namely research on disability-related technology, the National Institute of Mental Health and Rehabilitation, and the Indian Sign Language Research and Training Centre.

Religious Minorities

Coming to the subject that remains at the helm of Indian politics, being the polarisation between the religious majority and minority, we see that between 2010 and June 2017, 97% of all cow-related vigilantism and violence took place, and 86% of the people killed in such violence were Muslims. Most of this has occurred in BJP-ruled states, with Haryana and UP topping the list, followed by Gujarat. 52% of these fatal attacks were based on mere rumours. The controversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act, 2019 (CAA) brings in an unconstitutional religion-based definition of citizenship and will set a precedent for future religion-based definitions of citizens of India. It codifies preferential treatment for some citizens because of their religion, thereby automatically discriminating against other citizens and curtailing their rights.

Propaganda against minorities like the "Love Jihad", which has been shown to be an anti-women and anti-Muslim conspiracy theory and has been used by extremist groups as a tool to attack and prevent interfaith relationships. BJP-ruled states have either enacted or plan to enact legislation to combat "illegal religious conversions" associated with "interfaith marriages."In reality, these laws are being used to intimidate and harass consenting interfaith couples, and are violative of fundamental rights under Articles 21 and 25 of the Constitution, as well as the right to privacy held fundamental by the Supreme Court in 2017. A special investigation by Kanpur police into some 14 inter-faith marriages last year ruled out any Love-Jihad type conspiracy. Similar conclusions were reached by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Kerala and Karnataka in the past.

Children

The crime rate against children had seen a spike till 2019 of more than 150% rise.

According to the NFHS-5, anaemia among children under the age of five has grown in 18 of the 22 studied states and UTs. Childhood stunting has been worse in 13 of the 22 states, wasting has gotten worse in 12 of the 22 states and UTs, and the percentage of underweight kids has gotten higher in 16 of the 22 states and UTs. Even in states where stunting rates have reduced, such as Bihar and Assam, the reduction in stunting numbers is less than the government's targets. The Global Hunger Index placed India 94th out of 107 nations in 2020. Between 2018 and 2020, the proportion of children not in school grew, according to the ASER Centre.