Libmonster ID: IN-1272
Author(s) of the publication: E. S. YURLOVA

E. S. YURLOVA

Candidate of Historical Sciences Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences

Key words: India, vulnerable groups, caste stratification, women and children, functional poverty, food security

In September 2015, the UN General Assembly, with the participation of 195 countries, including India, adopted the Declaration "The World we Want" - on the priorities of the UN member states for 2015-2030. The declaration sets out the global Sustainable Development Goals for this period. The main goals of the UN are the elimination of poverty, hunger, malnutrition, unsanitary conditions and related diseases, gender equality and improving the health of children.

Of the 17 such goals, 6 of the very first ones are directly related to the topic of our article.

Goal 1: A world without poverty. End poverty in all its forms everywhere. Ensure that every member of society is protected from such phenomena as unemployment and has social protection aimed primarily at supporting the poorest, most vulnerable segments of the population.

Goal 2: A world without hunger. Provide each child with adequate and nutritious food so that they can grow up healthy. Eliminate hunger. End malnutrition.

Goal 3. Healthy lifestyle. Ensure a healthy lifestyle and promote well-being for all at all ages. Reduce the number of mothers who die during childbirth. Prevent deaths among newborns and children under five years of age.

Goal 4. Quality education. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and the promotion of lifelong learning opportunities for all. Provide education for all, starting with basic education.

Goal 5: Equal rights for men and women. Ensure gender equality and the empowerment of all women and girls. End all forms of violence against women and girls, including sexual trafficking and other forms of exploitation. End all practices and traditions that may harm the physical, mental and sexual health of women and girls. Recognize and appreciate women's domestic work.

Goal 6: Access to clean water and sanitation. Ensure the availability and sustainable use of water resources and sanitation for all. Ensure that everyone has access to sanitation facilities (safe sanitation and proper waste management) 1.

These and other goals are relevant for India , the world's largest poverty region. Vulnerable groups, including women and children, make up a huge part of the population.

INDIA'S SPECIFIC PROBLEMS

In India, the problems of poverty are deeply interlinked. They are superimposed on the country-specific division of society into numerous castes: from the highest-at the top of the caste structure, to the lowest-at the bottom. For centuries, this hierarchical structure has ensured that a minority of society has a dominant position over most of the lower castes, including the untouchables, who are now commonly referred to as Dalits (oppressed).

During the years of independence, the lower castes, including the Dalits, have significantly advanced in socio-economic terms. In a democracy, they are increasingly asserting their rights. 200 million Dalits are settled all over India. In West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, they make up a significant part of the population. The Dalits are a major political force that all political parties and groups have to reckon with. However, they still experience the remnants of traditional society.

Vulnerable segments of Indian society are considered not only Dalits, but also tribes that are also subject to socio-economic pressure from the upper classes. There are more than 100 million representatives of 30 large and dozens of small tribes in India. The largest of them, numbering millions of people , are GondsSantalsMizoBodoKhasiBhils and others. The tribes mainly live in the north-east of India, as well as in the so-called tribal belt, which stretches through the center of the country with

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East to West. Many of them lead a traditional lifestyle. The tribes have their own culture, traditions, language and way of life. They are engaged in hunting, fishing, and agriculture. Some of them are known as Vanyavasi (forest people).

Most of the Indian Muslims (about 170 million in total) are also a socially vulnerable group. In some states, such as West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Kerala, Muslims make up 20-25% of the population. In the state of Jammu and Kashmir, they are the majority.

MULTI-FUNCTIONAL NATURE OF POVERTY

Poverty in India is multi-functional. It is characterized not only by economic indicators, but also by education, access to health care, and many other forms, including the birth and upbringing of children.

To better understand India's achievements and challenges in the social sphere, it is advisable to compare them with the situation in other countries of South and Southeast Asia. India lags behind these countries in many social indicators.

By life expectancy India (65 years) It is second only to Nepal (68), Bangladesh (69), Indonesia (69), Thailand (74), Sri Lanka (75), and South Korea (81).

Infant mortality rate (per 1000 live births) India (47 dead children) is behind Nepal (39), Bangladesh (37), Indonesia (25), China (13), Sri Lanka (11), Thailand (11), South Korea (4).

By maternal mortality (at birth per 100 thousand children born alive) India (190) lags behind Bangladesh (170), Nepal (170), Pakistan (170), Thailand (48), China (37), Sri Lanka (35), South Korea (16).

India (29%) lags significantly behind Nepal (80%), China (68%), Thailand (64%), Bangladesh (57%), Indonesia (51%), South Korea (49%), Sri Lanka (35%).

The situation is not the best with the education of children aged 6-14 years. Most students from poor families attend public schools. The cost of training in them is more than four times less than in private schools. Only a third of public schools use electricity.2

FOOD SECURITY

India last experienced a massive famine in the late 1960s, but even today, providing food to the poor is one of the most pressing challenges.

In recent years, the state has managed to accumulate a fairly large buffer stock of grain. However, a significant part of it was poorly stored, rotted and even stolen. And in these conditions of relative abundance of grain, the poorest strata of the population suffered from malnutrition. It turns out that poor people are forced to endure hunger as an integral part of their lives. For them, the problem of food, in essence, is a problem of survival at an unworthy level for a person. Chronic malnutrition is a major obstacle to human development and economic growth in the country.

According to the estimates of Indian sociologists R. Chand, R. Saxena and S. Rana, the following groups of the Indian population are most at risk of malnutrition or malnutrition: these are, in general, the rural population (50%) and, to a lesser extent, the urban population (38%), tribes (56.4%), Dalits (56.2%) other socially and economically backward castes (44.1%). Girls (48.9%) are more at risk of malnutrition than boys (45%)3.

In 15 of India's 28 states, more than 85% of Dalits and tribesmen live below the poverty line. In other states, at least 2/3 of Dalits and tribes4 belong to the same group of poor people. One of the reasons for their poverty is the fundamental inequality in the caste system, which has led to the fact that these strata have almost no land, no means of production and are forced to accept the lowest-paid work. It does not generate an income that allows them to rise to a level of decent living (first of all, this applies to food security).

Dalits and tribal representatives are discriminated against when receiving food on ration cards, their children are bypassed during afternoon tea in schools, kindergartens, and health centers. They receive 20% less of the required vaccinations, and newborns and their mothers receive significantly less medical care. Compared to the rest of the population, Dalits and tribal people have 50% less body weight and 10-20% higher rates of anemia.5

India's strong economic growth in recent years has not led to a radical change in the situation of these social strata. According to some Indian researchers, economic growth alone, for all its importance, is not enough to improve the situation of the poor. By itself, it cannot undermine the influence of caste and gender hierarchies or affect job creation.6

SOCIAL INEQUALITY IS ONE OF THE CAUSES OF POVERTY

Until now, the majority of Dalits and representatives of the Pla-

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men in different parts of India can not completely break out of the traditional hierarchical subordination. Their possible social "lift" is controlled by higher, economically dominant castes and groups.

An example is the situation of the largest caste of former untouchables, the Madiga, in the newly created state of Telengana. In some areas of this state, in fact, there is bonded labor, formally abolished in 1976.

The Dalit Madiga caste is completely subordinate to the high Reddi caste, which, while owning land, previously provided control over the lower classes, and today, using the patronage of the authorities and businesses, controls all areas of socio-economic life-from providing work in villages and construction sites to access to charitable food projects that the government supports. officially intended for the same madiga7.

A similar situation exists in other states. And this is despite the fact that the state pursued a policy of "positive discrimination" against Dalits and people from tribes, that is, it sought to help them rise in the social hierarchy. Numerous government projects aimed at improving the situation of the social base are controlled by an influential local elite, which increases its economic and political influence to the detriment of the poor.

Covert boycotting by the local bureaucracy of plans to support the social base often leads to the fact that previously established forms of state aid, mainly food, are abolished or simply do not reach the poor. So, for a long time and very successfully operated previously in many southern and other states "fair price shops" (fair price shops), and later the system of public distribution of food by card (public distribution system), began to gradually replace the issuance of money to specific individuals. In many states, the National Food Security Act (2013) provides for 5 kg of grain at reduced prices per month per person and does not reach the population.8

Although poverty and malnutrition are more likely to affect Dalit and tribal adults and children, they also affect the poor of other castes and social groups. At the same time, girls are more affected, because, regardless of caste, in most Indian families they are given much less attention than their sons.

DISCRIMINATION AGAINST VULNERABLE WOMEN AND CHILDREN

Despite notable achievements in the emancipation of Indian women, especially in political life, many of them are oppressed by the stagnant traditions of society and the family, which still, with a few exceptions, remains patriarchal.

Discrimination against women begins in childhood, especially with nutrition. Traditionally, girls are fed worse than boys, usually separately and after them. This subsequently affects the health and well-rounded development of women. Inadequate care for girls and women (nutrition, health care, etc.) leads to malnutrition and poor physical development of mothers. This, in turn, leads to underdevelopment of the fetus, the birth of premature babies. About 30% of babies in India are born underweight. In this respect, India ranks 1st in the world and is twice as far behind sub-Saharan Africa9.

According to the UNICEF State of the World's Children 2011 report, girls aged 15-19 suffer more from malnutrition in India than boys. The lack of body weight among them is 47%. In addition, 56% of them are anemic.10

The report of the international charity group WaterAid-" Children of India are mentally and physically lagging behind due to lack of clean water " - claims that India is ahead of all countries in the world in this regard. The report says that one of the reasons for this condition is the lack of toilets, water contamination with faecal matter, and generally poor hygiene. Despite India's strong economic growth in recent years, the number of children with intellectual and physical disabilities in India is 48 million children under the age of five, which is about 30% of the world's children.11

Children are the most vulnerable among vulnerable groups in India. Child labor is prohibited by the Constitution of India. However, the Child Labor Prohibition and Regulation Act was first passed by Parliament only in 1986. According to it, it was forbidden to use the labor of children under the age of 14.12

But the law remained on paper. In the mid-1990s, according to official figures, there were 17 million working children in the country. However, a study sponsored by the Ministry of Labor of India found that the number of working children aged 5 to 14 years was 44 million. They were engaged in various types of work: assistants and auxiliary workers in agriculture, family crafts, small-scale trade, various workshops, in the manual production of carpets and fabrics, the production of matches, bricks, raw silk, as a pre-school teacher.-

page 40

domestic workers and, in general, in the service sector 13. This discrepancy in figures is due to differences in the definition of"child labour". Official documents do not include children who do not receive monetary remuneration for their work 14.

Children are forced to work because of the terrible poverty. As Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh stated in 2012, 42% of children suffer from malnutrition when the country has reserves of 50.2 million tons of wheat.15

Under public pressure, the use of child labor has declined markedly in recent years. However, it often remains in a hidden form, including at officially banned enterprises. There are many such examples. One of them is contained in the report of the international Thomson Reuters Foundation, published in August 2016 in the Indian scientific journal Economic and Political Weekly.

A detailed report by three Indian scientists describes the work of children aged 5-6 and older in abandoned and banned mica mines in the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and Rajasthan. Mica is a valuable raw material for the electronics industry. On the world market, the price of it reaches $2 thousand per kilogram. Parents from poor families, fearing persecution by the authorities, send their children to these old mines. Some of them manage to extract up to 10 kg of mica per day with the help of hammers and picks. It is then rented out to underground dealers at a price of 8 rupees (about 12 cents) per 1 kg. According to the authors of the report, this "business" employs about 20 thousand people. children's. Children who do not have any professional training and are not equipped with the necessary equipment often die-on average, 10 people per month16.

India is among the most backward countries in terms of malnutrition in the general population, and especially in children. Even among those significantly below it in terms of economic development 17.

"I had hoped," said Nobel Prize - winning economist Amartya Sen, " that in a democracy, poverty issues would receive more attention. However, hunger did not disappear with the advent of democracy. I also thought that things like gender inequality and child malnutrition would get more attention, but that didn't happen either."18

THE UN AND POVERTY IN INDIA

The UN State of Food Security in the World report of May 25, 2015 specifically identified India, where 15% of its population was suffering from malnutrition. This meant that " high economic growth did not translate into higher consumption, let alone improved food quality. This showed that the poor and hungry were not able to take advantage of economic growth that was not inclusive. " 19 This was also pointed out by many Indian experts, who emphasized that over the past 30 years of accelerated economic development in India, inequality between rich and poor has significantly increased.

Recently, various UN organizations have repeatedly emphasized the negative impact of the Indian caste system on the situation of Dalits and tribes. The UN Human Rights Council report of 28 January 2016 explicitly condemned the caste system and its associated poverty and humiliation. The report's author, Rita Issak-Ndiaye, highlighted the widespread use of the concepts of desecration and pollution in India, which contributes to the retention of Dalits in low-paid jobs. She stressed that these human-made barriers "are a major cause of poverty and perpetuate poverty in vulnerable communities" .20

The current administrator of the United Nations Development Programme, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, Helen Clark, in her speech at the United Nations on the occasion of the 125th anniversary of the great Indian public and political figure and Dalit advocate B. R. Ambedkar on April 13, 2016, emphasized the importance of inclusive and sustainable growth that meets the needs of the poorest and most marginalized. "The benefits of development should go to the whole society," she said. - To do this, it is necessary to implement economic and social measures that give priority to raising incomes and improving the living conditions of the poor and marginalized groups. To eliminate poverty, it is necessary to fight inequality in all its forms. " 21

CHILDREN'S HEALTH AND NUTRITION PROGRAMS

Under the 20-Point Programme, which was launched by the Government of India in 1975 and subsequently continued in 1982, 1986 and 2006, 65 separate projects were planned, especially in rural areas, to improve the quality of life, especially for the most vulnerable segments of the population. The main attention was paid to the creation of nurseries and kindergartens (anganvadi). In 2009-2010. it was planned to open 1,356 thousand such children's institutions 22.

Later, the Planning Commission of India conducted an independent assessment of the implementation of the children's health improvement program. It turned out that in fact the program covered less than half of the population.-

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the guilt of children in the country. It also turned out that there were not enough employees of kindergartens, they were overloaded and received low salaries. And the quality of the physical infrastructure of kindergartens - premises, kitchens, water and electricity supply-was unsatisfactory 23.

Integrated Child Development Services were established in 2013. They were supposed to be the largest universal government program to protect the life and health of children under the age of 6. This program included additional meals and training for children in kindergartens, vaccinations and medical examinations.

Some progress has been made in this area. Odisha, which has long been one of the most backward regions in terms of improving the lives of children and their mothers, has achieved good results with the introduction of this program. According to one survey, 96% of mothers said that their children received extra food in kindergartens, 76% reported that their children were regularly vaccinated, 84% said that their children's weight was monitored, and 76% - for their height.

Most mothers associated kindergartens with the ability to provide food for their children: with the availability of hot food made from vegetables, rice, peas and two eggs a week. The daily allowance of a hot meal in kindergartens was estimated at 6 rupees (about $0.1). At the same time, there was no talk about milk at all. And this is no coincidence. Despite the fact that India is the world's 1st largest producer of milk, there are only 250 grams of milk per day for each of its inhabitants: the poor do not get it.

* * *

The overall situation of poverty, especially among vulnerable segments of the population, continues to be of great concern to the Indian public. The reality is that India still has a lot to do to improve the lives of the vast majority of its people.

As noted, the problem of poverty in India is one of the most difficult and depressing. But at the same time, the middle class is growing. Its consumption and ambitions are growing. At the same time, there are no exact estimates of the size of this class, and there can hardly be any. At one time, the figure of 400 million people caused discussions in society as an overestimate.24

The government of the Indian People's Party (Bharatiya Janata Party), which came to power in May 2014, headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has repeatedly stated the need to combat poverty and related diseases, unsanitary conditions, etc.Large-scale plans have been developed to address these problems. As Narendra Modi emphasized on August 15, 2016, on the occasion of the 70th anniversary of India's independence, his Government considers these tasks to be one of its top priorities.25


1 Sustainable Development Goals www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ru

2 Table A, 1: Economic and Social Indicators in India and Selected Asian Countries, 2011 //Jean DrezeAmartya Sen. An Uncertain Glory. India and Its Contradictions. Princeton and Oxford: Princeton University Press, 2013, p. 292-294.

Chand R. 3Saxena R.Rana S. Estimates and Analysis of Farm Income in India. 1983/84 to 2011/12 // Economic and Political Weekly (далее EPW). 30.05.2015.

Alpa Shah 4Jense Lerche. India's Democracy: Illusion of Inclusion //EPW, Oct. 10, 2015, p. 33-36.

Nidhi Sadana Sabharwal. 5 Caste, Religion and Malnutrition Linkages // EPW. December 10, 2011, p. 16, 18.

6 See: Nidhi Sadana Sabharwal. Op. cit.; Venkatesan V. Supreme Court Steps in, again // Frontline. 04.03.2016; Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen. Op. cit.

Venkatesan V. 7 Op. cit., p. 38-39.

8 Ibidem.

9 http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/SOUTHASIAEXT/0

Aarti Dhar. 10 Many challenges remain for India's youth // The Hindu. 26.02.2011.

11 Indian children 'stunted' due to lack of clean water // South China Morning Post. 26.07.2016.

Bageshree S. 12 Law set to get together, but children continue to work // The Hindu. 12.06.2012.

Myron Weiner. 13 Child Labour in India // EPW. Nov. 9-16, 1996.

Hingorani S. 14 Does our budget care about children? // The Hindu. 14.03.2013.

15 The Wall Street Journal. 15.06.2012.

Nita Bhalla 16Anuradha Nagaraj and Rina Chandran. Death of Child Workers in India's Mica "Ghost" Mines Covered Up to Keep Industry Alive. A Report // EPW. 06.08.2016.

Jean Dreze and Amartya Sen. 17 Op. cit., p. 40.

Vinod Mehta 18Anjali Puri. Interview: Amartya Sen - www.outlookindia.com. 14.08.2009.

19 India is home to 194 million hungry people: UN. The report The State of Food Insecurity in the World // The Hindu. May 28, 2015.

20 U.N.Report: Global gaze on caste // Frontline. April 29, 2016.

Helen Clark. 21 UN DP Administrator. We'll work with India to realise Ambedkar's vision // The Hindu. 14.04.2016.

22 India 2011. New Delhi: GPI, 2012, p. 153-158.

Reetika Khera. 23 Children Development. Baby Steps in Odisha // EPW. 03.10.2015, p. 44-49.

Pavan K. Varma. 24 The Great Indian Middle Class. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2007, p. XVIII.

25 Modi's address on the 70th Independence Day // The Hindu. August 15, 2016.


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