Sociology II

Assignment # Pre Mid-Term

Find the two articles below to critically comment on how economic inequality is related to
gender and caste in India. Use these articles as building blocks but not as a limit for your answer.
You can use other relevant examples.to refine your answer.

Answer – The Covid-19 outbreak and the lockdowns have brought India's dilemma of great
inequality to light and made it worse. We examine different aspects of inequality in the labor
market and in access to necessities using a number of nationally representative sample surveys.
We give a brief summary of our most noteworthy findings. By gender, caste, and location of
residence, there are still significant earnings differences. In 2018–2019, the average wage gap
between men and women was 63%, the wage gap between the Scheduled Castes and the
relatively privileged social groups was 55%, and the wage gap between rural and urban areas
was only 50%. In 2017–2018, one-fourth of the world's population—or around 905 million
people—did not have access to piped water, 287 million did not have access to toilets, and 127
million were in leased housing. The effects of the public healthcare system's long-term neglect
and the discrepancies in access to education are explored. The research emphasizes the need for a
new development model, one that prioritizes redistribution.

Then the distinguishing aspect of inequality in India is the caste system. The hereditary social
stratification, which first appeared approximately 1500 BC, has its roots in occupational
hierarchy. The four Varnas, or castes, of Brahmins (the priests), Khatriyas (the soldiers),
Vaishyas (the traders), and Shudras (the slaves), were supposed to make up ancient Indian
civilization. In addition to the aforementioned four, there were the so-called "untouchables," or
Dalits (the oppressed), who were forbidden from interacting with any members of the upper
castes. These groups gradually converged into fewer manageable categories during the British
colonial period after being further divided into thousands of sub-castes or Jatis with a complex
internal hierarchy.

The daily wage employees experienced and continue to experience the greatest hardships
throughout the COVID-19 period, mostly due to a lack of employment opportunities. They had
to go barefoot back to their villages due to the severity of their circumstances. One of the most
heart-pounding images for every Indian was the homecoming of the daily wage laborers from
Mumbai and other major cities to their villages in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. Their predicament
was evidence of how poor their financial situation was because they could not even afford to
survive for even one week without working.

According to Chaudhary and Verick's (2014) analysis, the female labor force participation rate
fell from 35% to 25% between 2004 and 2005 and 2011 and 2012, a period of GDP growth of
8% annually. An increase in women's education, mechanization, and more formalization may be
to blame for this reduction. Another factor is discrimination based on religion. Christians and
other minorities do not experience significant discrimination, although in metropolitan areas
Muslims experience more discrimination than SCs and STs combined.

Due to his or her position in the caste system at the , a person who belongs to a caste that is
lower in the overall hierarchy of caste structure will have less favorable outcomes than those
who are further up in the hierarchy. This is similar to how the starting lines for runners in
different groups are set differently during races, causing some runners to start significantly
behind the others. The cumulative caste disadvantage and historical wrongs that persons from
lower castes are subject to are captured through the direct channel.i
According to Oxfam, there is a "female face" to inequality in India, where there are only nine
women among the country's 119 billionaires and women are less likely than males to hold paid
employment.

It stated that because of the gender pay gap, which is currently at 34%, households that rely
solely on female earners tend to be poorer because the paid work women do earns them less
money than men do.

By reading Simon Kuznets's famous theory, which holds that inequality rises with rapid
expansion before eventually declining, could be used to dismiss rising inequality as a transient
side effect of rapid growth. However, there is no assurance of this, not least because other
rapidly developing nations like India also see a widening disparity between the rich and the poor.

We see tall skyscrapers but ignore the slums beneath it as they don’t exist, so increasing
numbers in GDP does not indicate reduction in poverty, facts does not show the entire story .

In the eight low-income states—Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh,

Odisha, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh—account for 50% of India's population, yet there are 71%
of infant deaths, 72% of under-five mortality, and 60% of stunting there, according to the
Department of Economic Affairs' 2016–17 economic survey. Stunting affects 2 in 10 children in
Kerala and 5 in 10 children in UP and Bihar, according to the Ministry of Health and Family
Welfare and IIPS 2017.

According to the survey, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and UP account for more than two-
thirds of maternal mortality and more than half of newborn deaths.

In fact, a 2019 study indicated that economies with uneven distributions of opportunities had
relatively low growth prospects. The relationship between growth and inequality frequently
reflects inequality of opportunity.
The research demonstrates that an elaborate web of social hierarchy has been cast over every
facet of life in India, notwithstanding infrequent signs of merging caste or gender disparities. It is
true that some members of disadvantaged castes may leave school early in order to look into
traditional employment open to their caste-based networks, limiting their options. But are they to
blame for these decisions, or is it the fragile Indian economy that forces them in this direction?
Even while some "poor choices" people make may be more the product of pressure than choice,
there is no simple solution to these problems because the mindset and thought processes are
ingrained and people are born with such ideas by birth in the Indian society so time is the only
remedy along with education and gender neutral polices .

First, it may put into effect the necessary wage and working-conditions laws and steer the
economy toward a path of growth that creates jobs and money. Second, if the market economy
fails to provide for the needs of working people, it might make sure that they have enough
money to carry out their own productive or reproductive endeavors. Third, it might intervene by
providing a strong safety net. All three would lessen the workload in the household sector,
especially for women.
i
http://www.ecineq.org/ecineq_nyc17/FILESx2017/CR2/p198.pdf