Yojana-Aug-2018-Building an Inclusive Society

Building an Inclusive Society:

• Having a free and an inclusive society had been the most important narrative during Freedom Struggle of India.
• Empowering the vulnerable protecting the weakest is therefore a cherished objective of the Government
• The Government through its Department of Social Justice and Empowerment seeks to build an inclusive society where the most oppressed and backward sections of our population can live a life of dignity, pride and actively contribute to the Nation's Human Capital
• The target Population to realise this objective are the historically deprived sections of the society. Hence through various policies and programs the Government seeks to empower Scheduled Castes, Backward Classes, Old, Divyangs and Manual Scavengers

Welfare of Scs

• Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989
  • It is an important act to ensure protection and dignity of the members of SC and ST community
  • Over the years it has been strengthened and added more teeth to make it more effective in realising its objective
• Special Central Assistance for SC Sub Plan:
  • Its nomenclature has been renamed to "Allocation for the welfare of Scheduled Castes (AWSC)" in 2017
  • It has been in existence since 1979-1980 and it seeks to ensure proportionate flow of plan resources for the development of SC/ST
  • Through Web Portal, the department of social justice captures online data of various Ministries and departments on financial, physical and outcome based monitoring indicators as per the formats designed by NITI Aayog
• Educational Aid to SC:
  • Post-Matric Scholarship Scheme for SC students
  • it has been in operation since 1944
  • It is the single largest intervention by the government of India for the for the educational empowerment of SC students
  • It has witnessed various positive outcomes in terms of 
    • Improvement in Literacy Levels
    • Reduction in Dropout Rates
    • Higher Participation in Higher Education
    • Overall excellence in the formation of Human Capital
• Standard of Living:
  • Beyond Education, an area based approach has been developed for the Development of SC Habitation
  • It seeks to improve the living standards by focusing on:
    • Education
    • health and nutrition
    • Swacch Bharat
    • Livelihood and skill development

Welfare of Backwards Classes

• Education:
  • Scholarship Schemes remain the mainstay of interventions for the BCs 
• Skill and Livelihood:
  • Skill Development is an important intervention and is being undertaken through National Backward Classes Finance & Development Corporation (NBCFDC)
  • In addition to this, there is a need to build entrepreneurship abilities of this group which would have a wide ranging benefits for the community and the society

Welfare of Senior Citizens:

• Number of senior citizens as well as the old age dependency ratio both are increasing at an exponential rate
• Rashtriya Vayoshri Yojana:
  • It is meant for Providing Living Assisted Devices 
  • A total of 292 districts have been selected 
  • assessment camps have been held in 52 districts and distribution camps held in 39 districts

Rehabilitation of Manual Scavengers

• The inhumane act has been acknowledged as a historical injustice which led to severe indignity suffered by manual scavengers 
• National Survey of Manual Scavengers 
  • A survey was conducted in 170 identified districts of 18 states 
  • The scavengers identified in the survey will be each given a payment of One Time Cash Assistance (OTCA) of Rs 40,000 and rehabilitated through subsequent measures
  • Further, memorandum of Agreements with Panchayats and Municipal Corporations to purchase sanitation related vehicles and equipments are being entered into

Welfare for Divyangs:

• Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan launched by Government to provide a life of ease and dignity to Divyang 
  
• Efforts have been taken to make at least 50% of all Government buildings in the National Capital and all State Capitals "fully accessible"
• Special Camps organized for distribution of Aids and Assistive Devices to 8 lakh persons with disabilities
• All 34 international airports and all 48 Domestic Airports have been provided with accessible features such as ramps, accessible toilets, lifts with Braille Symbols and Auditory Signals
• Shikshit Bharat, Saksham Bharat
  • A scholarship scheme launched in 2014
  • It seeks to provide Scholarship to Divyang Students to pursue technical education
  • Scholarship amount worth Rs 30000 is provided towards tuition fee reimbursement and Rs 20,000 as Contingency Allowance
  • Under the scheme 1000 scholarships are available
  • Indian Sign Language Research Training Centre has been established under this scheme

 Conclusion:

To sum up, it can be pointed out that Government of India has remained committed to its objective of bringin inclusiveness in the society. Compared to the traditional Indian Society, India has achieved a lot in terms of empowering its vulnerable sections. However, with changing social values (due to globalisation), technology (social media etc) and new economic opportunities, the people have started to aspire for more. Different sections of our society have become more assertive with regards to their rights and aspirations and such a situation has led to the emergence of new challenges in bringing Social Inclusion. 

The approach to tackle social exclusion would have to be modified frequently to deal with emerging issues. A lot has been done and it should be continued with a new and vibrant approach 

By: Chandan Sharma