Vulnerable Sections Article 15(4), Article 16(4), Article 16 (4A), Article
Groups that experience a higher risk of poverty 16 (4B)
and social exclusion than the general population.
They include:
 Elderly
 Differently Abled Persons
 at-risk children esp. Orphans and Street
Children and youth
 Schedule Caste/ Schedule Tribe/
 ex-combatants, internally displaced people
 returning refugees
 HIV/AIDS affected individuals and households
 religious and ethnic minorities
 Women
 Sexual Minorities
Vulnerability is both individual and group
phenomena. Thus, a social component is usually
involved. This is particularly true in the case of
India where inequality and exclusion are facts of
life. Thus, some people not only have a greater
share of valued resources – money, property,
education, health, and power – than others, but
social identities play a dominant role in acquiring
these resources.
This can be more easily understood if we divide
these social resources into three forms of capital-
economic capital in the form of material assets
and income; cultural capital such as educational
qualifications and status; and social capital in the
form of networks of contacts and social
associations.
The Indian state has had special programmes for
the Scheduled Tribes and Scheduled Castes since
even before Independence. The ‘Schedules’ listing
the castes and tribes recognised as deserving of
special treatment because of the massive
discrimination practiced against them were drawn
up in 1935, by the British Indian government.
Schedule Caste:
The Constitution includes the following provisions
for the Scheduled castes:
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Article 46 (the states to promote with care the
educational and economic interests of the weaker
sections, especially SC and STs)
Article 330/332 (Allows reservation of seats for
SC/ST in the parliament as well as in state
legislatures)
Article 338/338A/339 (Establishes a National
Commission of SCs and STs
Article 339 (allows the central govt. to direct
states to implement and execute plans for the
betterment of SC/STs)
Article 340 (Allows the President to appoint a
commission to investigate the condition of socially
and economically backward classes and table the
report in the parliament).
Other measures:
 Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment.
 National Commission for Scheduled Castes
 National Commission for Safai Karmacharis
 Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955 &
Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes
(Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
 Committee to review implementation of PCR
and POA Acts
 Educational Development – Scholarships at
various levels.
 Economic Empowerment – special assistance
Schedule Tribe:
Tribes or Adivasis in India have generally been
defined in terms of what they were not. Tribes
were defined as communities that did not practice
a religion with a written text; did not have a state
or political form of the normal kind; did not have
sharp class divisions; and, most important, did not
have caste and were neither Hindus nor peasants.
Like the Dalits, Tribes as social groups were
recognized by the Indian Constitution as specially
marked by poverty, powerlessness and social
stigma.
The independence of India in 1947 should have
made life easier for adivasis but this was not the
case. Firstly, the government monopoly over
forests continued. If anything, the exploitation of
forests accelerated. Secondly, the policy of
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 capital-intensive industrialization adopted by the
Indian government required mineral resources
and power-generation capacities which were
concentrated in Adivasi areas.
Refer the Constitutional provisions mentioned
above for Scheduled castes. Apart from them,
certain other articles deal exclusively with
problems faced by STs. They are as follows:
 Article 19(5): It allows the state to impose
restriction on freedom of movement or of
residence in the benefit of Scheduled Tribes.
 Article 164: Appoint special minister for tribal
welfare in the states of MP, Bihar, and
Odisha.
 Article 275: Allows special grant in aids to
states for tribal welfare.
 Article 366 (25) defined them as “such tribes
or tribal communities as are deemed under
Article 342 to be Scheduled Tribes for the
purpose of this Constitution.”
 The Fifth Schedule under Article 244(1) of
Constitution defines ‘‘Scheduled Areas" as
such areas as the President may by Order
declare to be Scheduled Areas after
consultation with the Governor of the State.
 Tribes Advisory Council (TAC) shall be
established in States having Scheduled Areas.
The role of TAC is to advise the State
Government on matters pertaining to the
welfare and advancement of the Scheduled
Tribes in the State as may be referred to it by
the Governor.
 The Sixth Schedule under Article 244 (2) of
the Constitution relates to those areas in the
States of Assam, Meghalaya, Tripura and
Mizoram which are declared as ‘‘Tribal
Areas" and provides for District Councils
and/or Regional Councils for such Areas.
These Councils have been conferred with
wide ranging legislative, judicial and
executive powers. The administration of
Autonomous Districts and Autonomous
Regions is done through District Councils/
Regional Councils. These Councils are elected
bodies and have powers of legislation,
administration of justice apart from
executive, developmental and financial
responsibilities. The District or Regional
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Councils are empowered to make rules with
the approval of the Governor with regard to
matters like establishment, construction or
management of primary schools,
dispensaries, markets, cattle ponds, ferries,
fisheries, roads, road transport and
waterways in the district.
 Tribal Sub-Plan (TSP) – launched at the
beginning of 5th Five Year Plan. This special
strategy was expected to ensure that all the
general development sectors earmark funds
for STs in proportion to their population so
that adequate benefits from all the
concerned sectors flow to this disadvantaged
group.
 National Scheduled Tribes Finance and
Development Corporation.
 Forest Rights Act- Rights under FRA - Title
Rights; Forest management rights; Use rights;
Rehabilitation; Development Rights;
 In 1973, the Dhebar Commission created
Primitive Tribal Groups (PTGs) as a separate
category, who are less developed among the
tribal groups. They were later renamed as
PVTG.
Schemes:
 Vanjeevan will be a programme to identify
the problems in livelihood issues in select
districts of six states having low HDI of tribal
people in the first phase. The programme will
focus on the identification of local resources,
keeping in view the existing skill level. It has
been launched by MoTA in collaboration with
UNDP and National Scheduled Tribe Finances
and development Corporation (NSTFDC).
 Vanbandhu Kalyan Yojana
It aims at creating enabling environment for
need based and outcome oriented holistic
development of the tribal people
 Radio Bultoo
Use of the Internet and Bluetooth technology
to save local dying dialects in some tribal
areas, to share information and improve
governance in some tribal areas.
 Tribes India products to be sold on Amazon -
to popularise the ‘Tribes India’ brand in
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 national and international markets, Trifed
has signed MoU with Amazon.
Maharashtra’s Law on Social Boycott
The Maharashtra Prohibition of People from
Social Boycott (Prevention, Prohibition and
Redressal) Act, 2016 disallows social boycott in
the name of caste, community, religion, rituals or
customs. The decision was a reaction to pressures
from growing incidents of atrocities on individuals
by jati panchayats or gavkis wielding extra-judicial
powers.
 The Act lists over a dozen types of actions
that may amount to ‘social boycott’, which
has been made a criminal offence
 The practices it prohibits range from
preventing the performance of a social or
religious custom, denial of the right to
perform funerals or marriages, cutting off
someone’s social or commercial ties to
preventing access to educational or medical
institutions or community halls and public
facilities, or any form of social ostracism on
any ground.
Minorities
It is generally implies a relatively small but also
disadvantaged group. The sociological sense of
minority also implies that the members of the
minority form a collectively – that is, they have a
strong sense of group solidarity, a feeling of
togetherness and belonging. This is linked to
disadvantage because the experience of being
subjected to prejudice and discrimination usually
heightens feelings of intra-group loyalty and
interests.
Constitution Provision:
Article 29, 30, 350A
Measures:
 National Commission for Minorities
 National Commission for Religious and
Linguistic Minorities
 Special Officer for Linguistic Minorities
 Exclusive scholarship schemes for students
belonging to the minority communities
 Free Coaching and Allied Scheme
 National Minorities Development and
Finance Corporation
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Schemes:
 Jiyo Parsi
 Progress Panchayat - a campaign to reach out
to the minorities, particularly Muslims, to
create awareness in these communities
about the government’s policies and
programmes and remove “fears and
misconceptions” about the government
Sexual Minorities
Another group that faces stigma and
discrimination are the sexual minorities. Those
identified as gay, lesbian, transgender, bisexual,
kothi and hijra, experience various forms of
discrimination within the society and the health
system.
Constitutional Provisions for sexual minorities:
 Article 15(1)
 The Rights of Transgender Persons Bill
Persons with Disabilities
The differently abled are not ‘disabled’ only
because they are physically or mentally impaired
but also because society is built in a manner that
does not cater to their needs.
Issues:
 Inefficient steps till now with limited success.
 Poor workforce participation.
 Entrepreneurial ventures facing financial
hurdles.
 Disability is not being measured properly in
India.
 Lack of Institutional and Infrastructural
Support for the disabled in India.
 India looks at disability from medical or
pathological angle only.
 Most developed countries look from social
angle, highlighting institutional and social
arrangements preventing those with
impairments from leading normal lives.
Measures:
 India, a signatory of the UN Convention on
the Rights of Persons with Disabilities
 The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act,
2016
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  Disability has been defined based on an
evolving and dynamic concept.
 The types of disabilities have been
increased from existing 7 to 21.
 It seeks reservation in vacancies in
government establishments has been
increased from 3% to 4%.
 The bill claimed that every child with
benchmark disability between the age
group of 6 and 18 years shall have the
right to free education.
 Special Courts will be designated in each
district to handle cases concerning
violation of rights of PwDs.
 The new law will not only enhance the
Rights and Entitlements of Divyang-Jan
but also provide effective mechanism for
ensuring their empowerment and true
inclusion into the Society in a satisfactory
manner.
 Term "divyang" is being considered in place
of "viklang" to change mindset. The term
would help in raising self-confidence and
subsequent empowerment.
 Kerala became first state to conduct a census
of its own called Kerala Disability Census for
2014-15. Other states must follow example.
 Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat
Abhiyan) - is aimed at making transport,
government buildings, tourist spots, airports,
railway stations and internet technology
friendly for differently-abled people.
 Signatory to Marrakesh Treaty.
 Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons
with Disabilities
 Rehabilitation Council of India
 National Handicapped Finance and
Development Corporation.
 Assistance to Disabled persons for purchasing
/ fitting of aids / appliances (ADIP) scheme
 Divya Nayan - It is portable device is based
on the principle of contact scanning of a
printed document and converting it into
speech.
 Government has recently come out with
Mental Health care Act 2017 with the aim of
avoiding discrimination and improving their
autonomy in their decisions.
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 Karnataka government has launched a
dedicated helpline called Arogyavani that
acts as a counselling and redressing any type
of grievances.
 The government has launched ‘Divyang
Sarathi’—the accessible and comprehensive
mobile application for easy dissemination of
information to ‘Divyangjans’.
 Mental Healthcare Act, 2017
 Definition - It defines “mental illness” as
a substantial disorder of thinking, mood,
perception, orientation or memory that
grossly impairs judgment, behaviour, and
capacity to recognise reality or ability to
meet the ordinary demands of life.
 It ensures every person shall have a right
to access mental health care and
treatment from mental health services
run or funded by the appropriate
government.
 Advance Directives: given by mentally ill
person regarding her treatment and who
shall be her nominated representative
 It ensure right to live with dignity and
there shall be no discrimination.
 A person with mental illness shall have
the right to confidentiality in respect of
his mental health.
 Provision of Advance Directive, Mental
Health Authority at Centre & State,
Mental Health Review Board.
 Decriminalises Suicide.
There is a plan, a purpose and a value to every
life, no matter what its location, age, gender or
disability. The need is to recognize the fact that
persons with disabilities are the most inspiring
people. Give them an equal opportunity and they
will prove to be much stronger and capable with
their different abilities than the “normal” people.
And if we all have a mindset to accept this fact,
then we might just see a change in the society.
Elderly
It is true that due to strong family ties in India,
majority of elderly people live with their sons or
are supported by them in one way or the other.
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 However, there have been changes in recent
times, which have made the position of many
elderly people vulnerable.
Geriatric Care and Gerontology
Constitutional and Other Provisions:
 Article 41 of the DPSP directs that the State
shall, within the limits of its economic
capacity and development, make effective
provision for securing the right of public
assistance in cases of old age.
 Social Security is concurrent responsibility.
 National Social Assistance Programme (NSAP)
- a significant step towards the fulfilment of
the Directive Principles in Article 41 of the
Constitution.
 National Council of Senior Citizens (NCSrC)-
to advise the Central and State Governments
on the entire gamut of issues related to the
welfare of senior citizens and enhancement
of their quality of life. It is headed by the
Minister for Social Justice & Empowerment.
 Maintenance and Welfare of Parents and
Senior Citizens Act, 2007 - It makes it a legal
obligation of children and heirs to provide
maintenance to senior citizens and parents,
by monthly allowance.
Issue:
 Health insurance
 Infrastructure regarding elderly population is
poor
 Lack of social security
 Migration and displacement for work by the
youth population from the rural to the urban
areas leads to changing demography in rural
areas with increasing solitary elderly
population
 With the increasing trend of nuclear families
in the society and with fewer children in the
family, the care of older persons in the
families gets increasingly difficult.
Need for a policy
 65 per cent of the elderly in India are
dependent on others for their financial
requirements and undergo financial crisis.
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 The demographic profile depicts that number
of elderly is going to increase drastically in
future.
 1/8th of the Worlds Elderly Population lives
in India. Most of them will never retire in the
usual sense of the term and will continue to
work as long as physically possible.
 There is a challenge of old age income
security because ability to produce and earn
declines with age which leads to decline in
living standard.
 Also, due to dissolving institution of joint
family and migration and displacement for
work by the youth population, the elderly are
more vulnerable.
Schemes:
 Atal Pension Yojana (APY) - It is a universal
social security programme for all Indians.
 Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana - for providing
Physical Aids and Assisted-living Devices for
Senior citizens belonging to BPL category.
 Pradhan Mantri Vaya Vandana Yojana
(PMVVY) - PMVVY is a Pension Scheme
exclusively for the senior citizens aged 60
years and above.
India worst place to retire:
Global Retirement Index:
The index ranks countries on the basis of four
factors — the material means to live comfortably
in retirement; access to quality financial services
to help preserve savings value and maximize
income; access to quality health services; and a
clean and safe environment.
Women
Constitutional provisions
 Article 15(3)
 Article 23:
 Article 39: Ensures equal pay to women for
equal work.
 Article 40: Provides one-third reservation in
panchayats.
 Article 42: Provides free pregnancy care and
delivery.
 Article 44
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  Article 51 (A)(e)- To renounce the practices
derogatory to the dignity of women
Demographic Profile of Women in India – Sex
Ratio (940), Literacy (65.46%), Employment
(21.9%).
Gender pay gap as high as 27%.
Almost 40% of women are out of the labour force
in India, according to ILO.
Indicator of Women’s status in India: Female
foeticide & infanticide, Rape, sexual harassment &
abuse, Domestic violence and dowry deaths,
Prostitution & Objectification of women.
Statutory and Autonomous Organizations
National commission for Women; Rashtriya
Mahila Kosh (RMK).
Independent India embraced equality as a
cardinal value against a background of elaborate,
valued and clearly perceived inequalities. Her
constitutional policies to offset these proceeded
from an awareness of the entrenched and
cumulative nature of group inequalities. The
result has been an array of programmes that have
been called as welfare schemes It would not be
unfair to say that these welfare schemes have
been pursued with remarkable persistence and
generosity (if not always with vigour and
effectiveness).
Schemes:
 Mahila Police Volunteer Initiative - The
primary job of these women volunteers is to
keep an eye on situations where women in
the village are harassed or their rights and
entitlements are denied or their
development is prevented.
 Pink Bus initiative Kerala

 SHe-Box - This portal is an initiative to
provide a platform to women working or
visiting any office of Central Government
(Central Ministries, Departments, Public
Sector Undertakings, Autonomous Bodies
and Institutions etc.) to file complaints
related to sexual harassment at workplace
under the SH Act.
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 Domestic Violence Act
 Sexual Harassment of Women at
Workplace(Prevention, Prohibition,
Redressal) Act, 2013
 Navika Sagar Parikrama: In consonance
with the National policy to empower
women to attain their full potential, the
expedition aims to showcase ‘Nari Shakti’ on
the world platform.
 Women in combat role.
 Odisha government has launched ‘She
Means Business’ programme of Facebook
for women entrepreneurs. It is aimed to
reduce the digital divide and empower
women entrepreneurs and SHGs.
 Tejaswini - The development objective of
Tejaswini, for Socioeconomic Empowerment
of Adolescent Girls and Young Women
(AGYW) Project in India is to improve
completion of market-driven skills training
and secondary education for adolescent girls
and young women (in age group 14-24 years)
in select districts of Jharkhand.
 TREAD (Trade Related Entrepreneurship
Assistance and Development) Scheme by to
promote women entrepreneurs via trade
related training, information, counseling
activities related to trades, products, services
and financial aid.
 Maternity Benefit (Amendment) Act, 2017
 Initiatives to check decline in child sex ratio
 Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao Yojana,
 Sukanya Samriddhi Yojana,
 PCPNDT Act (1994)
 Aapki Beti, Humari beti by Haryana
government.
Draft National Policy on Women 2016
Last National Policy for the Empowerment of
Women (NPEW) was introduced in 2001. There is
need therefore to formulate a new policy that can
guide the transformative shift required for making
gender rights a reality, addressing women’s issues
in all its facets, capturing emerging challenges and
ultimately positioning women as equal partners of
sustained development progress that the country
is experiencing presently.
Priority Areas identified by the Draft
 Health including food security and nutrition
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  Education
 Economy: increasing the participation of
women in the workforce, creating ecosystem
for women to participate in entrepreneurial
activities.
 Governance & Decision Making
 Violence against Women
 Enabling Environment: in the field of sports
etc
 Environment & Climate Changes: policies and
programmes for environment, conservation
and restoration will compulsorily incorporate
gender concerns.
 Review of the personal and customary laws
in accordance with the Constitutional
provisions.
 Recognizing special needs of single women
including widows separated, divorced, never-
married and deserted women.
 Setting up Gender Budgeting Cells set up at
all levels of governance.
Preventing sexual harassment of women at
Workplace
Laws:
 Supreme Court-issued Vishaka Guidelines in
1997 which was superseded by Sexual
Harassment of Women at Workplace
(Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) Act,
2013.
 Guidelines issued by the SEBI. These
guidelines mandate that listed companies
must file a Business Responsibility Report
annually that lists details of the sexual
harassment complaints the company has
received.
Issues with SHWW (PPR) Act:
 It does not satisfactorily address
accountability and does not specify who is in
charge of ensuring that workplaces comply
with the Act and who must be held
accountable in case of violation.
 The act mandated Internal Complaint
Committee (ICC) is not existence in many
companies.
 The mandated member NGO working for
women’s cause to be included in ICC remains
unfeasible.
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 The Act also lays the onus for sensitizing
employees to sexual harassment issues, and
creating awareness of redressal mechanisms,
on employers. This remain unimplemented.
Way ahead:
 State governments should take on the
responsibility of enforcing implementation of
the anti-sexual harassment act.
 The single-best solution to harassment is
greater gender diversity at the workplace—
an area where India lags conspicuously.
Marital Rape
 The Justice JS Verma committee while
dealing the criminal law amendment act has
also suggested that marital rape be made a
non bailable offence.
 Against Art. 21 & 14.
 Law Commission and SC has also suggested.
 The United Nations has also recommended
India make it criminal for a man to rape his
wife.
 Arguments against:
 essential to preserve the integrity of
marriage
 right to privacy would be defeated if
sexual intercourse within marriage could
be made the subject of legal
proceedings
 not defined in the IPC
 chances of gross misuse
Child
National Action Plan for Children, 2016
It was launched to implement National Policy of
Children, 2013.
 On Child Survival, Health and Nutrition
 Universalizing the maternal and child
healthcare.
 Emphasis on immunization
 prevent mental and physical disabilities
through timely measure
 Education and development: provide
universal and equitable access to quality
Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE)
 Child Protection
 Child Participation: will ensure that children
actively participate in planning and
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 implementation of programmes concerning
them.
Other Legislation:
 Protection of Children from Sexual Offences
Act, 2012
 Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of
Children) Act, 2015
 Child Labour (Prohibition and Regulation) Act,
1986 & National Child Labour Project (NCLP)
 Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006
 100 Million for 100 Million
‘Swasth Bachche, Swasth Bharat’ Programme, an
initiative of Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan to
prepare a physical Health and Fitness Profile Card
for more than 12 lakhs of Kendriya Vidyalaya
students was recently launched in Kochi.
Aarambh Initiative It is the country's first-ever
hotline to curb sexual abuse of children through
the Internet and to remove child pornographic
content online unveiled.
PENCIL (Platform for Effective Enforcement for
No Child Labour) — an electronic platform for
effective implementation of the National Child
Labour Project, (NCLP).
Orphans and street children
Constitutional Provisions/ Bodies/ Policies
 Article 15(3) empowers the state to make
special provisions for welfare of children and
women.
 Article 21A
 Article 24: Children have a fundamental right
against exploitation
 Article 39(e) of DPSP puts responsibility of
State to ensure that children of tender age
should not be misused.
 Several PILs have been filed in the benefit of
children.
 Article 45: Urges the state to provide early
childhood care and education for children up
to 6 years of age.
 National Commission for protection of Child
Rights
 National Policy for Children
Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS)
Scheme.
Issues Relating to Poverty and Hunger
Poverty – Absolute and Relative.
Issue with Absolute poverty - Establishing a
yardstick to measure poverty, There is no
consensus on what should be included as basic
necessities, cultural needs vary from place to
place and time to time. Therefore, absolute
standards cannot be fixed.
Issue with Relative Poverty: The index may be
inadequate; Items in the index may not represent
people’s view, rather that of an expert; It
introduces subjectivity; Decisions to include
certain items are arbitrary.
Method used: Head count ratio & Poverty line.
Government’s approach to poverty
The government’s approach to poverty reduction
was of three dimensions.
The first one is growth oriented approach. It is
based on the expectation that the effects of
economic growth would spread to all sections of
society and will trickle down to the poor sections
also. This was followed in the 50s and early 60s.
This second approach was specific poverty
alleviation programmes such as Food for Work,
expanding self-employment programmes and
wage employment programmes were being
considered as the major ways of addressing
poverty.
The third approach to addressing poverty is to
provide minimum basic amenities to the people
such as provision of food grains at subsidised
rates, education, health, water supply and
sanitation— people’s living standard could be
improved. Programmes under this approach are
expected to supplement the consumption of the
poor, create employment opportunities and bring
about improvements in health and education.
Major programmes were MDM, ICDS, PDS.
Compared to the magnitude of poverty, the
amount of resources allocated for these
programmes is not sufficient. The officials
implemented these programmes are ill motivated,
inadequately trained, corruption prone and
vulnerable to pressure from a variety of local
elites, the resources are inefficiently used and
wasted. There is also non-participation of local
level institutions in programme implementation.
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 Ravi Jain (AIR - 9, CSE 2019) - http://tiny.cc/rj09

Poverty can effectively be eradicated only when

the poor start contributing to growth by their
active involvement in the growth process. This is
possible through a process of social mobilisation,
encouraging poor people to participate and get
them empowered. This will also help create
employment opportunities which may lead to
increase in levels of income, skill development,
health and literacy.

When the founding fathers of the country opted

for a growth centered strategy, they did so in the
full knowledge that India’s poverty problem was
too immense to be solved by redistribution alone.
Here it would be in order to recall Jawaharlal
Nehru’s statement in The Discovery of India,
where he argued that the immense poverty of
many Indians meant that ‘to remove this lack and
ensure an irreducible minimum standard for
everybody, the national income had to be greatly
increased.’