Equality – The state of being the same, especially in status, rights or opportunities are called equality.
Equality is a principle recognized by the Indian Constitution.
It states that all Indians are equal before the law and there should not be any discrimination on the basis of caste, religion, sex or financial status.
All adults have the right to vote without any bias and this is a powerful tool they can use to choose/replace their representatives.
But in reality people are treated unequally on the bases of sex, caste, etc.
There are ample examples in history where people have come together to protest the inequality they are facing.
Economic Inequality – The following have an adverse impact on the poor people:
Privatisation of hospitals and neglect of government hospitals:
Because of the privatisation and the bad condition of government hospitals, poor people do not have access to good health services.
High demand for branded goods:
The small sellers who sell loose items and non-branded goods are not able to compete with those selling branded goods because they cannot afford the costs involved in branding i.e. packaging, advertising, etc.
Dependence on powerful people for money:
Small farmers due to lack of money, are dependent on local traders for money for the agricultural inputs as well as for family exigencies. They also have to yield to the irrational demands and conditions of the traders. Similarly, the maid servants (due to their poverty), have to bear insults and ill-treatment by their employers.
Religion Based Inequality:
Some people are not willing to lease out their apartment to people of a particular religion in spite of their ability to pay rent, or employ people from a particular religion.
Recently, there was news about a Muslim youth being denied the job because of his religion.
The youth was suitably qualified and had applied for an opening in a jewellery firm.
But he got an email which mentioned that the company only hired non-Muslim candidates.
Caste Based Inequality:
The Dalit community is always victimised and oppressed.
Shri Om Prakash Valmiki, a Dalit writer has elaborated this in his autobiography ‘Joothan’.
In this he has mentioned that he was forced by his teachers to sweep his school yard just because he was a Dalit boy.
Harijan, a Hindi word which translates to (“Child of Hari/Vishnu”) is a term popularized by Indian revolutionary leader Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi for referring to Dalits, traditionally considered to be untouchable.
Gender Based Inequality:
In one of the earlier chapters we have read about how the work done by women is devalued.
It is not given any recognition and they are also paid less than their male counterparts.
The discrimination is because of the social and cultural background we are brought up in.
Linkages between the grounds of inequality:
There is a strong interrelationship between the bases of discrimination and inequality.
For example the issues of poverty, lack of dignity and respect for some communities are not independent issues.
They exist together in such a manner that it is very difficult to identify where one aspect of inequality ends and the other starts.
For example the dropping out of school of the Dalit, Adivasi and Muslim girls is a combined outcome of poverty, social discrimination and lack of good schooling facilities.
This is an ‘all-in-one’ example of inequality i.e. it shows the inequality on the basis of financial status, caste, religion and gender.
Struggles for equality:
There are some renowned figures in every community, village, city or country that have stood up against inequality and discrimination.
They have fought against the discrimination which they either faced or witnessed as onlooker.
Such renowned people are also famous and respected for the fact that they treat everybody with respect and dignity.
They are hence trusted and people look forward to them as problem solvers when any issue arises in the community.
Some people become popular because they took the initiative to fight the inequality and have the support of large number of people who have come together to fight the inequality.
Tawa Matsya Sangh:
It is a federation of Fish worker’s cooperatives.
t is an organisation that fights for the rights of the displaced forest dwellers of the Satpura forest in Madhya Pradesh.
The problem of displacement of people and communities is very widespread in our country.
Whenever any dam is built or forest areas are declared sanctuaries for animals; it results in the displacement of thousands of people.
Effect of Displacement:
Uprooting of villages:
The villagers are forced to leave their homes and build new homes and start life afresh in other locations.
The poverty of the people adds to the problem.
Uprooting of bastis:
Even in the urban areas, when the bastis where the poor live are uprooted they are forced to move out of the city in far-off places.
This disturbs their entire life.
The work place and the schools of their children; which were previously accessible; become inaccessible.
This severely disrupts their routine because of the distances between the outskirts of the city and the location of their school/place of work.
Premise of the Tawa Matsya Sangh:
The Tawa River flows through Betul before joining the Narmada in Hoshangabad.
It originates in the Mahadeo hills of Chindwara district.
The work of building the Tawa dam was started in 1958 and it was completed in the year 1978.
It resulted in the submerging of large areas of forest and agricultural land.
The life of the forest dwellers was reduced to nothing.
Some of the displaced people settled around the reservoir.
They found a new source of livelihood.
Apart from their meagre farms, they started fishing.
Their earnings were also very less.
The rights of fishing in the Tawa reservoir were given to private contractors by the government in the year 1994.
These contractors drove away the local people in order to get cheap labour from outside.
Those villagers who resisted leaving were threatened by the henchmen of contractors.
At this point the villagers united and decided to set up an organisation for protecting their rights. This led to the formation of the Tawa Matsya Sangh (TMS).
The TMS demanded their right to continue fishing for their livelihood by organising rallies and chakka jams (blocking the roads).
Impact of TMS:
The government, as a response to the protests by the TMS, created a committee to assess the issue.
The committee recommended that the villagers should be given the fishing rights for their livelihood.
Consequently, in 1996, the Madhya Pradesh government decided to give the displaced people the rights for the reservoir.
Two months later a five-year lease agreement was signed and on January 2, 1997, the villagers from 33 villages started their new year with their first catch.
How the TMS functioned?
A cooperative was set up which bought the catch from the fish workers at a fair price.
The cooperative also arranged the transport and sale of the catch at a good price.
This resulted in a three-fold increase in the earnings of the fish workers.
The TMS had also begun giving loans to the fish workers for repair of nets and buying new nets.
The TMS has proved that when people’s organisations get their rights to livelihood, they can be good managers.
This was proven by the increase in earnings of the fish workers and the preservation of fish in the reservoir- both being an impact of the TMS.
The Indian Constitution-a living document:
The term ‘Constitution – a living document’ means that it is a document that exists in reality.
It does not exist merely on paper but is implemented also. It has the ability to change the lives of the people in a better way, like it did for the fish workers in TMS.
The provisions of the Constitution regarding equality were actually implemented as a result of their united protests.
The recognition of equality for all people, besides being a provision in the Constitution, is also the basis for all the movements for justice and the poetries and songs on equality.
There are communities and individuals in a democracy who constantly try to expand the sphere of democracy and push for more equality on existing as well as new issues.
