10/09/2021
India Leading towards Non Cohesive Society
The OECD characterizes a society cohesive if “it works towards the well-being of all its members, fights exclusion and marginalization, creates a sense of belonging, promotes trust, and offers its members the opportunity of upward social mobility.”
Considering the above definition, IS REALY INDIAN SOCIETY (Individual, Policy Makers, Government, and Implementing System) WORKING FOR WELL-BEING OF ALL MEMEBR? The answer seems very pathetic on the grounds report published by Oxfam India. The report (India: Extreme Inequality in Number) highlighted very brutal fact about inequality in India as follows
The top 10% of the Indian population holds 77% of the total national wealth. 73% of the wealth generated in 2017 went to the richest 1%, while 67 million Indians who comprise the poorest half of the population saw only a 1% increase in their wealth.
There are 119 billionaires in India. Their number has increased from only 9 in 2000 to 101 in 2017. Between 2018 and 2022, India is estimated to produce 70 new millionaires every day.
Billionaires' fortunes increased by almost 10 times over a decade and their total wealth is higher than the entire Union budget of India for the fiscal year 2018-19, which was at INR 24422 billion.
Many ordinary Indians are not able to access the health care they need. 63 million of them are pushed into poverty because of healthcare costs every year - almost two people every second.
It would take 941 years for a minimum wage worker in rural India to earn what the top paid executive at a leading Indian garment company earns in a year.
If glare at India’s world raking in different indexes that portray the state of trust and belongingness India’s performance not seems better as well. See the following index and India’s ranking in different index (2019-2020)
World Competitive Index 2020 43
World Digital competitiveness Ranking 2020 44
Inclusive Internet Index 2020 46
Global Innovation Index 2020 48
Democracy Index 2019 51
World Talent Index 2020 59
Ease of Doing Business 63
Global Competitiveness Index 2019 72
Energy Transition Index 2020 74
Social Mobility Index 2020 76
Sustainability Index 2020 77
Corruption Perception Index 2020 80
Henley Passport Index 2020 84
International Smart City Index 2020 85
Global Hunger Index 2020 94
Economic Freedom Index 2020 105
Economic Freedom Of The World 2020 105
Global Gender Gap Index 2020 112
Global Childhood Index 2020 113
Human Capital Index 2020 116
Human Development Index 2019 129
World Press Freedom Index 2020 142
World Happiness Report 2020 144
Environmental Performance Index 2020 168
Mind well social cohesion is imperative for overall well-being and prosperity along with competitiveness. Social, economic, cultural and political stability is very much dependent of social cohesiveness and if not, there chances of social unrest. Building milieu of social cohesiveness is relentless process and it is not possible to build overnight. Process of social cohesiveness began in India with adaptation of constitution of India back in 1950 and it strengthen the process for few initial decades but started to deteriorate after 1991 and in 2021 we are completely marching towards Non- Cohesive Society, which is alarming for India if not taken care by all.
Kya Hai Majority (Approx 130 Core) only thinks about Next Generation and not about the Forth Generation. But few (Approx 50000, Imaginary Figure) thinks about Next 10 Generation and survived on deadly weapons of creating Non- Cohesive Society. The forces sustain in history for thousands of years but certainly will shatter in current environment of globalized interconnectedness, if not work for social democracy.
