Festival of Dipawali should be a symbol of taking prosperity to the huts of the poor

By Bharat Dogra
Dipawali is a festival when lamps and candles are lighted in the homes of even the poorest with the hope of economic prosperity. This is a time of light and hope, yet we cannot forget that millions and millions of people are still unable to meet even their basic needs. Much needs to be done still to ensure that prosperity at least in the form of basic needs being met can reach these millions of homes.
The government has done well to announce that the scheme of free food grain is being extended by another one year—this will certainly bring some relief—but surely the challenge of meeting all basic needs in a satisfactory way is much bigger.
Experts can debate endlessly how many of the households are below the poverty line and how many are perched precariously at the margin; what we know for certain is that an unacceptably high number of households in the country are not able to meet their basic needs in a satisfactory way and an unacceptably high number of people do not have satisfying and secure, sustainable livelihoods. For significant sections of people the challenges of ensuring access to basic needs has actually increased in recent times, following the disruptions caused by demonetization and pandemic related lockdowns in particular.
As numerous studies from around the world have confirmed, a high commitment to equality and justice is very important for reducing poverty and deprivation. Unfortunately India has lagged behind in moving towards a society based on economic equality. In fact there are all the indications of increasing inequalities. According to the country profile for India presented in the World Inequality Report (2022), the bottom 50% of the population in India has just 6% of the country’s wealth. At the same time the top 10% has as high a share of wealth as 65% while just the top 1% has an enormously high share of 33% of the wealth.
In addition there is high inequality in terms of income as well. The bottom 50% of the population has only 13% of the country’ income, while the top 10% has 57% of the income. Just the top 1% has as much as 22% of the country’s income.
Clearly such intolerably high levels of wealth and income inequality need to be reduced in a big way and a much higher share of the wealth and income should be available for the bottom 50% of the population, with special care being taken to meet the basic needs of the bottom 20% of the population in particular. The rural landless people deserve special attention and the program of land reforms for providing them at least some farmland which has been neglected in the recent past should be revived.
In addition there is considerable room for improvement in the several government programs and schemes which are specifically aimed at helping the weaker sections. As a first step, the allocations for such programs and schemes should be in accordance with their stated aims, and there should be careful monitoring to ensure that the actual expenditure is in accordance with the original allocation. In addition their implementation should improve in significant ways to curb corruption and to see that the rules are observed. In the case of NREGA, for example, there is need to ensure timely payment of fair wages as well as to ensure that the work is not done on the sly by machines and the basic aim of generating employment for the poor is fulfilled. In the case of PM Awas the most genuinely needy households should be selected on the basis of priority and there should be no room for corruption.
The overall direction of the economy should shift in favor of generating more satisfactory and sustainable livelihoods as well as meeting the basic needs of people in satisfactory ways.
A combination of many-sided efforts to reduce inequalities as well as making the economy more broad-based and balanced, apart from improving the functioning of various government schemes aimed at helping the poor can together help to bring significant relief as well as longer-term improvement for the bottom half of the population.
---

*Honorary Convener, Campaign to Save Earth Now. His recent books include Man over Machine, When the Two Streams Met and India’s Quest for Sustainable Farming and Healthy Food

Comments

The soundtrack of resistance: How 'Sada Sada Ya Nabi' is fueling the Iran war

By Syed Ali Mujtaba* The Persian track “ Sada Sada Ya Nabi ye ” by Hossein Sotoodeh has taken the world by storm. This viral media has cut across linguistic barriers to achieve cult status, reaching over 10 million views. The electrifying music and passionate rendition by the Iranian singer have resonated across the globe, particularly as the high-intensity military conflict involving Iran entered its second month in March 2026.

Manufacturing, services: India's low-skill, middle-skill labour remains underemployed

By Francis Kuriakose* The Indian economy was in a state of deceleration well before Covid-19 made its impact in early 2020. This can be inferred from the declining trends of four important macroeconomic variables that indicate the health of the economy in the last quarter of 2019.

Incarceration of Prof Saibaba 'revives' the question: What is crime, who is criminal?

By Kunal Pant* In 2016, a Supreme Court Judge asked the state of Maharashtra, “Do you want to extract a pound of flesh?” The statement was directed against the state for contesting the bail plea of Delhi University Professor GN Saibaba. Saibaba was arrested in 2014, a justification for which was to prevent him from committing what the police called “anti-national activities.”

Food security? Gujarat govt puts more than 5 lakh ration cards in the 'silent' category

By Pankti Jog* A new statistical report uploaded by the Gujarat government on the national food security portal shows that ensuring food security for the marginalized community is still not a priority of the state. The statistical report, uploaded on December 24, highlights many weaknesses in implementing the National Food Security Act (NFSA) in state.

Why Indo-Pak relations have been on 'knife’s edge' , hostilities may remain for long

By Utkarsh Bajpai* The past few decades have seen strides being made in all aspects of life – from sticks and stones to weaponry. The extreme case of this phenomenon has been nuclear weapons. The menace caused by nuclear weapons in the past is unforgettable. Images of Hiroshima and Nagasaki from 1945 come to mind, after the United States dropped two atomic bombs on the cities.

Modi’s Israel visit strengthened Pakistan’s hand in US–Iran truce: Ex-Indian diplomat

By Jag Jivan M. K. Bhadrakumar , a career diplomat with three decades of service in postings across the former Soviet Union, Pakistan, Iran, Afghanistan, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Germany, and Turkey, has warned that the current truce in the US–Iran war is “fragile and ridden with contradictions.” Writing in his blog India Punchline , Bhadrakumar argues that while Pakistan has emerged as a surprising broker of dialogue, the durability of the ceasefire remains uncertain.

Lata Mangeshkar, a Dalit from Devdasi family, 'refused to sing a song' about Ambedkar

By Pramod Ranjan* An artist is known and respected for her art. But she is equally, or even more so known and respected for her social concerns. An artist's social concerns or in other words, her worldview, give a direction and purpose to her art. History remembers only such artists whose social concerns are deep, reasoned and of durable importance. Lata Mangeshkar (28 September 1929 – 6 February 2022) was a celebrated playback singer of the Hindi film industry. She was the uncrowned queen of Indian music for over seven decades. Her popularity was unmatched. Her songs were heard and admired not only in India but also in Pakistan, Bangladesh and many other South Asian countries. In this article, we will focus on her social concerns. Lata lived for 92 long years. Music ran in her blood. Her father also belonged to the world of music. Her two sisters, Asha Bhonsle and Usha Mangeshkar, are well-known singers. Lata might have been born in Indore but the blood of a famous Devdasi family...

'Batteries now cheap enough for solar to meet India's 90% demand': Expert quotes Ember study

By A Representative Shankar Sharma, Power & Climate Policy Analyst, has urged India’s top policymakers to reconsider the financial and ecological implications of the country’s energy transition strategy in light of recent global developments. In a letter dated April 10, 2026, addressed to the Union Ministers of Finance, Power, New & Renewable Energy, Environment, Forest & Climate Change, and the Vice Chair of NITI Aayog, with a copy to the Prime Minister, Sharma highlighted concerns over India’s ambitious plans for coal gasification and the Prototype Fast Breeder Reactor (PFBR).

Labour unrest in Manesar trigger tensions: Recently enacted labour codes blamed

By A Representative A civil rights coalition has expressed concern over recent developments in the industrial hub of Manesar in Haryana, where a series of labour actions and police responses have drawn attention. A statement, released by the Campaign Against State Repression (CASR), said it stood in solidarity with workers in IMT Manesar and other parts of the country, while also alleging instances of police excess during ongoing unrest.

Search This Blog