By Mayank Jain:
Are some people more equal than others?
In our country of 1.25 billion, there are only some people who get to choose- their choice for dinner, their preferred course of education, mode of transportation and everything else; however, a much larger population struggles to survive. They don’t get to make any choices and they are forever trapped in the existence struggle trying to make ends meet.
The glare of economic success through signboards of development surely loses its sheen if lakhs of us go to sleep hungry every night. Children, marred with malnutrition walk endlessly to reach schools that falter at providing quality education. Inequality in India manifests itself in endless forms and the only way to get around is get through it and structurally reframe policies and deliveries.
The state of inequality in India is above the danger mark and we need quick action to bridge the ever widening divide between haves and have-nots. This inequality has doubled over the last 20 years since the top 10% of wage earners now make 12 times more than the bottom 10%. These gruesome statistics about the socioeconomic divide make us the worst performers among all emerging economies.
Other parameters like health, education and income also need similar urgent attention for the lack of a concerted effort to close this gap. Here’s a look at some of the glaring statistics that mirror India’s inequality panorama through a series of infographics: