HYDERABAD: THE Central and State government must come together to fight against rising inequalities in the country, said speakers at a function organised by the Council for Social Development (CSD) for the release of its report titled, ‘India Social Development Report 2018: Rising Inequality in India’, here on Wednesday.
“Globalisation has enabled capital to move wherever labour is cheap, making it more difficult for the poor to negotiate wages,’’ said YV Reddy, former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) governor, while releasing the said report. “India is one of the fastest-growing countries in the world. Sadly, with this, the economic and social inequalities in the country are also increasing,”he said.
The former RBI governor said that rising inequalities should be the primary concern of the Central government. It is not, however, a serious concern for Centre, he alleged.
“When it comes to education, 80 per cent of the funds are being incurred by the State government and only 20 per cent by the Central government. The Centre has no administration to handle education at the state-level,” he added.
The report, authored by notable economists, features various issues, including healthcare, education, inequality, and gender.
President of CSD Muchkund Dubey, who contributed a paper to the report, said that policies, such as, minimum income guarantee, should be strictly implemented. “Despite having the Right to Education, Right to Employment, and Minimum Wages Act, economic inequalities are rising in the wake of neo-liberal policies,” he said.
C Rommanohar Reddy, a senior journalist, said: “Things are getting worse in the country. Extreme income inequality is driving wealth inequalities in urban and rural areas.” He added that caste-based discrimination played a dominant role in fuelling inequalities. Caste hierarchies are so deeply entrenched, added E Revathi, Director of Centre for Economic and Social Studies.