Let
me tell you a short story.
Picture source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sled_dogs_-_Terra_Nova_Expedition.jpg
Once,
in the cold, snowy mountains, there lived a farmer who had 12 dogs. They pulled
his sledge, helping him move around in the snow. All the dogs worked hard, but
like everything else around, they were not the same. They had varying levels of
strength and stamina. One of them was particularly weak. The farmer waited,
hoping that the weakest one would grow stronger on its own, just like the
others, but it didn’t. One fine day, the farmer thought if he got rid of the
weakest dog, there would be more food available for the other 11 dogs, and they
would be better fed and perform better without the 12th dog. The
idea seemed logical. So, the next day, he shot the weakest dog. The other 11
dogs now had more food and things seemed to get better. It worked. However, in
a month’s time, the farmer realized that there was another dog amongst the 11
left who was not as strong as the other 10. And he again thought, one less
would mean more food for the other 10. So the next day, the farmer shot the
weakest. Month after month, he kept on systematically eliminating the weakest
one in the hope of optimizing the resources. More for the stronger and shoot
the weakest. By the end of the year, he had just one dog left. The dog was very
strong and very well fed. But to the farmer’s horror, the dog, even with all
its strength, couldn't pull his sledge. One dog was just not enough. The farmer
was exasperated. He couldn't understand what went wrong!
What went wrong?
No
society is uniform or homogenous in its constitution. There are always people
who are better endowed than the others, be it the case of money or power or
access to amenities. Also, there are performers and there are slackers. There
are people who can produce a lot with very little and then those who need a lot
to deliver even a little. There are also weaker sections of the society, at
times even oppressed or discriminated lot, who are trying to catch up with the
section which has already moved miles ahead. But it must be understood that all
the people mentioned above together constitute a society. Not just one section,
but all of them together. This highly complex constitution make it complete.
In
India too, we have a highly fragmented society, with a huge gap between its top
10% and bottom 10%, which is only increasing. According to an article published
in Times Of India, for the period from 2000 to 2012, the richest 10% of Indian
society have seen highest growth while the poorest 10% have seen the slowest
increase in incomes. The remaining 80% of the people have seen roughly the same
levels of growth ranging between 35% and 40% in rural areas and between 40% and
50% in urban areas over 12 years. That means that for 90% of people, annual
growth in income was just over 3% in rural India, and just over 4% in urban
India. (Complete article: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Income-disparity-between-rich-and-poor-growing-rapidly/articleshow/21410981.cms)
Since
independence, a lot of effort has been made by the government in the form of
various schemes like MGNREGA, subsidies on a number of items, reservation
system, setting up of PSUs etc. to bridge the divide. Without doubt, there have
been a lot of problems with most of these efforts. MGNREGA is said to be
fraught with lot of leakages. Subsidies are being misused. Reservation system
is not benefitting the needy enough. Many of the PSUs are running huge losses
and are inefficient. It would seem that the entire effort is pointless. So why
spend the public money on such activities which reap no benefits. Why to bother
for people who are beyond redemption? The hard earned money taken from people
in the form of taxes being put to no good use is injustice, one may say.
There is a point.
Now, one way to address the problem might be to ignore
the problem altogether. Pretend that nothing is wrong. Argue that according to
Survival of the Fittest, the ones who can crawl their way out of the pit of
poverty shall become worthy of living. Rest all shall perish, and sooner than
later. That way, one day, the world shall finally be rid of poverty and all of
the economic injustice. However, please understand, before dying out, there
will come a stage when the poor shall become desperate. If this fracture in the
society continues, there will come a point when the entire social structure
will rupture, leading to chaos and disorder. The morality will be compromised
if the marginalized section is left behind to suffer with no hope of a future.
This issue was raised in the UN Sixty-sixth General Assembly, Third Committee,
in October 2013, “As World Struggles with
Economic Crisis, ‘Time Bomb’ of Rising Social Inequality Could Tear Apart Moral
Fabric of Societies” (More at: http://www.un.org/press/en/2011/gashc4004.doc.htm).
To prevent our society from reaching such a point, we have to address this
issue.
Further,
the thing about the last step of the ladder is that no matter how many steps
you chop off from bottom, there is always a last step left, till the point
comes when the last step and the first step are the same step. Simply put, even
if the bottom most rung of the society is left to perish and even if it withers
out, there will still be a lowest section of society. It will not be the same
as the last one, but it will be equally desperate to survive. The problem will
never end with the end of people. New set of people will emerge with the same
set of problems.
Moreover,
how can a nation think about making rapid economic growth when its weakest link
is unable to contribute to the growth of nation? How can the sledge gain its
top speed while one of the dogs is actually being dragged by the others,
instead of pulling the sledge himself? We have seen that shooting the weakest
is no option either. We need every last member of society to contribute to pick
up pace and race to economic growth. Any lopsided growth is temporary at best. We
have a huge population. It can either be a problem or we can enable our
population to contribute.
So, what’s the way out?
Facing
the problem for what it is will be a good start. Understand that the
economically weaker section of the society IS
a part of the society. They are not outliers. They are not exceptions. They are
not expendable. Do not try to cover up their existence with growth figures and
GDP stats. Accept that we have a problem. Only then can we start to fix it. Having
said that, one must admit that there is no one size fits all solution to the
problem. It’s a long, cumbersome process with requires commitment from society
and the government apparatus alike. We have to plug holes that lead to pilferages.
We also will have to be extremely patient. Things will not begin to look up
instantly. When a plant has withered, watering it for a day or two doesn't make
it flower. Long term nurturing is needed. We have to pledge to never give up on
them.
Most importantly, we require sensitivity and compassion.
