DAMODARAM SANJIVAYYA NATIONAL LAW UNIVERSITY

VISAKHAPATNAM, A.P., INDIA

SOCIAL INEQUALITIES AND LAW

PROJECT TITLE

SOCIOLOGY
SUBJECT

PROF. M. LAKSHMIPATHI RAJU

NAME OF THE FACULTY

Name of the Candidate

Roll No. & Semester

VISHAL JAIN
2015137
1ST SEMESTER

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INTRODUCTION

Social inequality occurs when resources in a given society are distributed unevenly, typically
through norms of allocation, that engender specific patterns along lines of socially defined
categories of persons. Economic inequality, usually described on the basis of the unequal
distribution of income or wealth, is a frequently studied type of social inequality. Though the
disciplines of economics and sociology generally use different theoretical approaches to examine
and explain economic inequality, both fields are actively involved in researching this inequality.
However, social and natural resources other than purely economic resources are also unevenly
distributed in most societies and may contribute to social status. Norms of allocation can also
affect the distribution of rights and privileges, social power, access to public goods such
as education or the judicial system, adequate housing, transportation, credit and financial
services such as banking and other social goods and services.
While many societies worldwide hold that their resources are distributed on the basis of merit,
research shows that the distribution of resources often follows delineations that distinguish
different social categories of persons on the basis of other socially defined characteristics. For
example, social inequality is linked to racial inequality, gender inequality, and ethnic
inequality as well as other status characteristics.

ANCIENT INDIA

So far as the Ancient Indian Culture and Civilization is concerned; the Vedas and Smritis speak
highly of equality and brotherhood-'Vasudhaika Kutumbakam (One World One Family)'. "The
entire world is a family" was the motto of Vedic civilization1. All had equal opportunity in all
walks of life in ancient India. The Vedic age was more liberal in providing equal status to the
people. Buddhism, Jainism, Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Sikhism and other indigenous Indian
religions also preach the principles of brotherhood and equality.

1
G. BUHLER, THE LAws OF MANU 195 (F. Max Muller ed., 1990). Hindu law is based
upon the Manusmritis or code of Man, of which Manu is the author. [d. According to the
laws of Manu a woman must worship her husband as God even if he is a womanizer. NEERA
DESAI & MAITHREYI KIuSHNARAJ, WOMEN AND SOCIETY IN INDIA 28-29 (1987). A woman also
should be kept dependent by her husband because she is passionate and disloyal by nature.
[d. at 29.

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In the Bhagavadgita (the divine song), Lord Krishna, the philosopher king and the incarnation of
the Supreme God, too has preached the equality of all souls. However, the Supreme Lord himself
created the four hypothetical classes in the human society on the basis of Guna, i.e., the inherent
ability or nature of an individual, and the Karma, i.e., deeds or jobs performed by an individual,
and not on the basis of birth5. Whereas the membership in a tribe or caste is determined by birth
and is different from the membership in these classes. These hypothetical four classes are
intellectuals and priests (Brahmana varna), rulers and warriors (Kshatriya varna), agriculturists
and business persons (Vaishya varna), and artisans and other workers (Shudra varna) in a given
society. These four classes include the thousands of real castes and tribes in this world. Each
caste/tribe falls into one of these four hypothetical Vedic classes.

The so-called casteism or the tribalism is based on the tribal and religious differences. Naturally,
certain groups have monopolized certain trades. The tribalism segregated the society into ghettos
of isolation and exclusiveness, sealing the society into insulated social divisions. This has been
the case in every nation and society.

Added to this were gifts from a millennium of Islamic rule and occupation, such as the Purdah
system among women and the child marriages. Then British rulers created a class of loyalists with
an emphasis on communal and feudalistic basis and awarded them with titles, patronage and
privileges. This created further discriminatory dimensions in the Indian society.

REFORMATION

Since ancient times, there have been efforts by enlightened Indians to bring about equality through
social and religious reforms, e.g., Lord Budha (5th century BC), Mahavir (5th century BC),
Ashoka (2nd century BC), Shankara (7th century AD) etc. In the beginning of the nineteenth
century a new process of social reforms started which received an impetus at the time of
independence movement in 20th century. A pioneer among these reformers was Raja Ramamohan
Roy. He compiled and edited the Hindu personal law of marriage, inheritance, religious worship,
woman's status, woman's property and caste system, by introducing the most liberal principles of
justice and equality. He worked out a synthesis of eastern and western social values and postulates
against the common background of humanity6. He also started a movement for the emancipation
of the oppressed classes and urged a return to the original Vedantas and for a total rejection of all
the religious and social impurities that had crept into the Indian society7.

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Swami Vivekananda strongly condemned the social evil of segregation as a non-Hindu attitude.
He said, "It is not in the holy books," and "don't-touchism is a mental disease"8. Mahadev Govind
Ranade regarded social advancement as the necessary prelude to political emancipation. Under the
moral law, all men and women are equal and it is the supreme duty of man to love man and God
with devout sincerity and reverent faith9.

Mahatma Gandhi fought against the social evils of racism, imperialism, communalism and
segregation (so-called untouchability). He was very much against social injustices, tyrannies and
oppressions. According to Mahatma, 'segregation was not a vital art of Hinduism, but was only an
excrescence and a plague10. The list of reformers goes on and on. It is impossible to describe all
reformers of even the modern age in this essay because of time and space limitations.

All socio-political changes in any society result from the thoughts of eminent thinkers. These
thoughts influence not only a particular society or country to which a thinker belongs to, but many
other parts of the world also. Such has been the case with the ideas and means suggested for
attaining the social equality conceived by western thinkers, as well as their Indian counterparts.
With the movement of time the notion of equality which was confined merely to social and political
thinking became a matter of legal consideration.

As such the awakening in the 19th and 20th centuries is affected by consideration of equality which
has been incorporated in the Indian Constitution as well. Thus equality has a history of its own in
becoming a legal doctrine.

WOMEN AND RELIGION

Discrimination against women in India was prevalent in every sphere of life and most women
experience some form of disadvantage, just like in the USA, even today. Law is an important
institution in most contemporary societies as it regulates, controls and, in a way, pervades almost
every aspect of people’s lives. For majority of Indian women, family life continues to be an
important aspect of their existence2. Family law plays a greater role in the lives of Indian women
than the laws related to pay maternity benefits, property, etc.

In India, religious personal laws govern the family relations, even though it claims to be a secular

2
Hindu Succession Act, No. 30 (1956) (India), reprinted in ALLAHABAD LAW AGENCY,
NEW ACTS OF HINDU LAW (1992).

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country. Unlike in the US, major religions like Islam, Christianity, Sikhism and Zoroastrianism
have their separate laws in the Indian Union, which regulate matters of marriage 3, divorce,
succession, adoption, guardianship and maintenance. These personal laws discriminate against
women, e.g., a Muslim man can have four wives where as a woman is not allowed to have four
husbands.

The constitution of India guarantees equality, including sexual, to everyone (articles 14 & 15). All
laws which are inconsistent with the Fundamental Rights enshrined in the Constitution are void
(article 13). Yet religious personal laws that discriminate against women are still valid, not void,
even after four decades after the adoption of the Constitution. The State has not adopted a
consistent policy with regard to reform of religious personal laws. The British and the successive
Congress governments have extensively reformed the supposed Hindu personal law in order to
give equal rights to Hindu men and women. The personal laws of the so-called minorities are left
virtually untouched, ostensibly because the leaders of these communities claim that their religious
laws are inviolate. The present situation is that the women of the minority communities like
Muslims continue to have unequal legal rights.

The opposition to reforms is based on the constitutional right to freedom of conscience, a

Fundamental Right by articles 25-284, which claimed to include right to be governed by religious
personal laws. The constitution does not resolve the question that if the secular state can interfere
in these religious personal laws. Strangely, though there was opposition from Hindu community,
the same State has interfered and reformed the Hindu personal law extensively to the extent that it
no more resembles any of the zillion Hindu laws for zillion Hindu religions and castes that existed
before Muslims and the British came to India.

The situation in the US is quite different. If American State were to behave like the Indian State,
it would be violating establishment clause of the US constitution. Thus, Muslims, Mormons and
any other religious minorities will never get special privileges to violate bigamy laws of the US,
at least not until these groups acquire strength to determine the fate of a candidate in the elections.

The Indian State does not want to interfere with the religious personal laws other than the Hindu
personal law by imposing a Uniform Civil Code (UCC), because of political reasons. The minority

3
Hindu Marriage Act, No. 25 (1955) (India), reprinted in ALLAHABAD LAW AGENCY, NEW
ACTS OF HINDU LAW (1992); INDIA PEN. CODE § 498-A. Cruelty is any willful conduct by a
husband, or a relative of the husband, which is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide
or to cause grave injury or danger to her life, limb, or health. Id.
4
See DR. DURGA DAS BASU, INTRODUCTION TO THE CONSTITUTION OF INDIA 30 (1976).

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groups tend to vote en-bloc and are very intolerant to reform. Any attempt to reform their personal
laws is viewed as interference of the State and Hindus in the affairs of minorities, and made out as
a big issue which would destabilize the State and the leadership. The opposition party, the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a right wing nationalistic party supported by Vishwa Hindu Parishad
(VHP, World Hindu Coalition), is like the Republican Party of America that is supported by the
Christian Coalition). The BJP has been advocating for the UCC for a long time. But this party is
viewed as a fundamentalist Hindu Party for its advocacy for UCC and its conservative, rightist and
capitalist views by the so-called secular and irreligious parties like Congress and Communists, and
the leftist dominated Indian mass media. Fundamentalist Muslim and Christian groups support
these so-called secular parties. Also, Western and Indian media brand this party as a Hindu
fundamentalist for it has support from VHP. However, the same media groups do not consider the
Republican Party of America as a fundamentalist Christian party even though a very strong
Christian Coalition supports it. So, BJP may never come to power without any alliance with the
so-called secular parties and without the Muslim and Christian support, as the coalition
government phenomenon in India has become a must. Curiously, this phenomenon coincides with
the fall of the Gandhi dynasty and the Soviet Union and opening up of the Indian market.

The present ruling party (Congress Party) has a track record of pampering various minority groups
and using 'divide and rule' policy, adopted from British for its political gains. Yet at the same time
Congress I successfully claims to be secular. The secular credentials in India depend on how good
one pampers the minorities. Whenever the so-called political goal of national integration allegedly
appears to be in jeopardy, the State abandons its efforts to incorporate sex-equality or any other
reform in religious personal laws of minorities, and argues that the religious nature of the personal
law prevents any intervention by the State. One wonders what prevents the Indian State after
disintegration of the British India into three countries purely based on religion and millions of
Hindus were wiped out of the face of the earth in Islamic Republics of Pakistan and Bangladesh!

In America, minorities don’t get any special privileges. In the past 15 years the Republican Party
(supported by Christian Coalition) ruled the country for 12 years. Yet, both the State and the
Republican Party are considered secular in the eyes of Western and Indian media. This indicates
that there are two kinds of secularism: Indian secularism and American secularism. The Indian
secularism involves the State’s active participation and support of the establishment of so-called
minority religions against the Hindu religions. American secularism doesn’t allow the State’s
active participation in the establishment of majority or minority religions, and the civil and
criminal law applies equally to all irrespective of their religion, caste and ethnicity. It allows the
majority religion to flourish and flaunt its power.

I am pretty sure that even if the BJP came to power by chance, it would never implement its pet

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project, the UCC, for the fear of losing its Muslim and leftist allies and, thereby, the power. The
BJP probably would play the same minority card as Congress does today since Hindu groups are
mostly leftist or communist. As a result, the Muslim population has no reason to reform since
nobody dares to force reform contrary to as in the case of reform minded Hindu groups dominated
by leftist ideology. The Muslim leadership is quite happy with the status quo.

While the law may not be very useful in directly changing the peoples' convictions and values, it
can function as a persuasive norm. In other words, rather than prohibiting certain behavior in
absolute terms, law may permit certain behavior, by providing facilities for a pattern of behavior
different from the practices followed until then. The availability of a possibility, which was
previously not available, unthinkable or not thought about, transforms the psychology of the
subjects, as well as the legal possibilities and their expectations and tolerances.

Thus one measure of effectiveness of a law can be a gradual change in social attitudes, may be a
partial change in the actual behavior of some- perhaps the elite of the society- who can in turn
serve as role models to be emulated. Such transformation in the behavior of people, if widely
achieved, can in turn lead to a structural transformation of institutions as well. For example, Hindu
marriage has been transformed in the perception of people, from a polygamous union to a
monogamous union in less than 40 years. Although, Lord Rama emphasized on "one wife for life"
principle, which is different from Judeo-Christian monogamy which prescribes "one wife at a
time" and allows divorce and remarriage; polygamy and polyandry were also acceptable to
Indians. The Hindu Marriage Act, 1956 prohibited polygamy. But, the only person entitled to
bring charges against a person guilty of polygamy is the affected spouse. It does not need to be
mentioned that most Indian women are not in a position to bring a legal action against their
husbands. Yet, throughout India, Hindus practice only monogamy, which is essentially a Judeo-
Christian principle that was brought to India. Even extra marital associations such as concubines
have disappeared to a large extent.

In India, the legal system is the most corrupt system after bureaucracy. It takes ages to resolve an
issue through the court of law. The age-old philosophy of solving the problem outside the court is
still valid, even in the USA. If I say that nobody ever gets any justice through court in India, it may
not be an over exaggeration! For example, Ayodhya temple issue has been in the court for over a
century and there seems to be no resolution in the near future. The first case was filed in 1885 by
Raghubar Das, mahant of the Ram Janmasthan, seeking permission to build a temple on the site.

But this situation cannot be used to argue that the legal rights are not useful because very few
Indians can enforce them. This argument is not a valid reason for not reforming the laws. Thanks

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to the enlightened elite, leftist or otherwise, the process of reforms that started long before
independence still continues. At present the situation for Hindu woman in India is more or less
equal to an American woman, at least legally. As pointed out earlier the State can only legislate
and change the laws but cannot enforce them completely.

The legislation that purports to give individuals personal rights in many matters such as birth
control, abortion, marriage or divorce has the potential for yielding more immediate results than
the laws that attempt to remove sex discrimination or any discrimination from the overall system.
This is because individuals can start the implementation of laws concerning personal matters on
their own initiative while laws against discrimination in employment, for example, require
institutional enforcement. Even though laws cannot eradicate all the causes of discrimination, they
can eliminate its permissive causes - the situation that persists when there is nothing to stop such
discrimination.

The movement of middle and upper class women from the home into the labor force began with
the safe female -typed jobs such as nursing and teaching and for a few of the more highly skilled
women the professions of medicine and law. Although women had been entering these occupations
for some time in India, it was the fight for independence that is said to have an impetus that showed
them that they were able to assume other roles than those of traditional housewife and mother.
This movement of women into employment came at a later date in India than in many western
countries. Indian women have moved successfully into high positions in the political arena
also. This kind of movement brings in a variety of new problems, such as sexual harassment at
work places, problems of ego and so on. As I mentioned earlier, these kinds of problems must be
dealt with by institutions, i.e., laws against discrimination are to be enforced by the institutions.
Existence of such pieces of legislation and laws would help people to evolve and accept new roles
and new situations. For example, it should be very difficult for traditional egoistic male in a
patriarchal society to accept a female superior and work under her authority, yet now we see many
women making it to the top and be successful in the Indian Union.

It is very tempting to cite the examples of Prime Minister of Pakistan Ms. Benazir Bhutto or Prime
Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi for the success story of Indian women. However, I would
like to view their success as a chance rather than true evolution or revolution. In my view, the late
Prime Minister of India Mrs. Indira Gandhi, the former Prime Minister of Pakistan Ms. Benazir
Bhutto, the Prime Minister of Bangladesh Begum Khaleda Zia and the Srilakan President Sirimavo
Bandaranaike (the world’s first woman Prime Minister) have attained such high positions not
because the society has evolved, but because of the persistence of primitive mentality of the people
and medieval tribal tradition of succession of heirs to the throne. They all became leaders mostly
because their fathers or their husbands were at the throne and had power.

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I cannot visualize this happen in the USA. I do not intend to diminish the power politics in the
US. However, in the US, a person from humble origins can become president, e.g., President
Clinton. The height of this personality cult and family rule nonsense in India can be exemplified
by Rajiv Gandhi’s ascent to power. When his mother was assassinated, he was a political novice.
He was a pilot officer and was never before in politics. But the Congress Party chose him as a
leader democratically for lack of any other able and charismatic leader. He became the caretaker
Prime Minister till the elections were held and, he was elected as the Prime Minister with a
sweeping majority in the parliament.

Though I don't mean to belittle the achievement of Indian women, I wonder if it is a real
achievement. Indian women were lucky that Mr. Nehru didn’t have sons. Nevertheless, this luck
of Indira (Nehru) Gandhi that she was the only heir to Nehru's throne has paved the way for masses
to follow and hence the liberation of women and the down trodden. I wonder if a woman ever can
become a president of the USA, even as an heir to the throne of a husband or a father! Even in
India, I don’t see any possibility for a woman to become the Prime Minister of India, unless Sonia
Gandhi takes back the relinquished reins, leads the Congress party and resurrects the Gandhi
dynasty.

GENDER INEQUALITY
Man and woman are both equal and both plays a vital role in the creation and development of
their families in a particular and the society in general. Indeed, the struggle for legal equality has
been one of the major concerns of the women’s movement all over the world. In India, since
long back, women were considered as an oppressed section of the society and they were
neglected for centuries. During the national struggle for independence, Gandhi gave a call of
emancipation of women5. He wrote – :I am uncompromising in the matter of women’s rights.
The difference in sex and physical form denotes no difference in status. Woman is the
complement of man, and not inferior”. Thus, the first task in post-independent India was to
provide a constitution to the people, which would not make any distinctions on the basis of sex.
The preamble of constitution promises to secure to all its citizens- “Justice-economical, social,
and political”

5
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE, NEW DEHU, TOWARDS
EQUAUTY, REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA 137 (1975) [hereinafter
TOWARDS EQUAUTY].

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The constitution declares that the equality before the law and the equal protection of laws shall
be available for all, similarly there shall be no discrimination against any citizen on the ground of
sex. Article 15(1) guarantees equalities of opportunities for all citizens in matters of
employment. Article 15(3) provides that the state can make any special provisions for women
and children. Besides, directive principle of state policy which concern women directly and have
a special bearing on their status directly and have a special bearing on their status include Article
39(a) right to an adequate means of livelihood; (d) equal pay for equal work both men and
women, (e) protection of health and strength of workers –men, women, children and Article 42
provides for just and humane conditions of work and maternity relief.

It is really important to note that though the Constitution of India is working since more than
fifty-seven years – the raising of the status of women to one of equality, freedom and dignity is
still a question mark

In India, since independence, a number of laws have been enacted in order to provide protection
to women. For instance the Dowry prohibition Act 1961, The Equal Remuneration Act 1986,
The Hindu Marriage Act 19566, The Hindu Succession Act 19567, The Muslim Women
(Protection of Rights on Divorce) Act, 1986, the commission of Sati (prevention) Act 1987,
Protection of the Women from Domestic Violence Act 2005, etc. But, the laws have hardly
implemented in their letter and spirit.

The sense of insecurity, humiliation and helplessness always keep a women mum. Our whole
socialisation is such that for any unsuccessful marriage which results in such violence or divorce,
it is always the woman, who is held responsible. Cultural beliefs and traditions that discriminate
against women may be officially discredited but they continue to flourish at the grass root levels.
Family relations in India are governed by personal laws. The four major religious communities
are – Hindu, Muslim, Christian and Parsi each have their separate personal laws. They are
governed by their respective personal laws in matters of marriage, divorce, succession, adoption,
guardianship and maintenance. In the laws of all the communities, women have fewer rights than
that of man in corresponding situations. It is really that women of the minority communities in
India continue to have unequal legal rights and even the women of the majority community have
yet to gain complete formal equality in all aspects of family life. This is basically the problem of
gender inequality. But what is this problem and how this can be solved.

6
Hindu Marriage Act, No. 25 (1955) (India), reprinted in ALLAHABAD LAW AGENCY, NEW
ACTS OF HINDU LAW (1992); INDIA PEN. CODE § 498-A. Cruelty is any willful conduct by a
husband, or a relative of the husband, which is likely to drive the woman to commit suicide
or to cause grave injury or danger to her life, limb, or health. Id.
7
Hindu Succession Act, No. 30 (1956) (India), reprinted in ALLAHABAD LAW AGENCY,
NEW ACTS OF HINDU LAW (1992).

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As a Concept
Gender Inequalities refers to the obvious or hidden disparities among individuals based on the
performance of gender. This problem in simple term is known as Gender Bias which in simple
terms means the gender stratification or making difference between a girl and a boy i.e. a male or
a female. In making biasness among the gender India has 10th rank out of 128 countries all over
the world which is shameful for us. But this problem is increasing although government has
banned the pre-natal sex examination. In India (in the older times) this problem is mainly seen in
the rural areas because many rural people think that the girl child is burden on them. But now
this is also being seen in the urban areas i.e. in offices, institutions, schools and in society. The
afflicted world in which we live is characterised by deeply unequal sharing of the burden of
adversities between women and men. Gender Inequality exists in most part of the world, from
Japan to Morocco, or from Uzbekistan to United States of America (as stated earlier).

However, inequality between men and women can take very many different forms. Indeed,
gender inequality is not one homogeneous phenomenon, but a collection of disparate and
interlinked problems. The issue of gender inequality is one which has been publicly
reverberating through society for decades. The problem of inequality in employment being one
of the most pressing issues today. In order to examine this situation one must try to get to the
root of the problem and must understand the sociological factors that cause women to have a
much more difficult time getting the same benefits, wages, and job opportunities as their male
counterparts. The society in which we live has been shaped historically by males.

However, in many parts of the world, women receive less attention and health care than men do,
and particularly girls often receive very much less support than boys. As a result of this gender
bias, the mortality rates of females often exceed those of males in these countries. The concept of
missing women was devised to give some idea of the enormity of the phenomenon of women's
adversity in mortality by focussing on the women who are simply not there, due to unusually
high mortality compared with male mortality rates. In some regions in the world, inequality
between women and men directly involves matters of life and death, and takes the brutal form of
unusually high mortality rates of women and a consequent preponderance of men in the total
population, as opposed to the preponderance of women found in societies with little or no gender
bias in health care and nutrition. Mortality inequality has been observed extensively in North
Africa and in Asia, including China and South Asia.

Types of Gender Inequalities

There are many kinds of gender inequality or gender disparity which are as follows:
1. Natality inequality: In this type of inequality a preference is given for boys over girls that
many male-dominated societies have, gender inequality can manifest itself in the form of the
parents wanting the newborn to be a boy rather than a girl. There was a time when this could be
no more than a wish (a daydream or a nightmare, depending on one's perspective), but with the
availability of modern techniques to determine the gender of the foetus, sex-selective abortion

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has become common in many countries. It is particularly prevalent in East Asia, in China and
South Korea in particular, but also in Singapore and Taiwan, and it is beginning to emerge as a
statistically significant phenomenon in India8 and South Asia as well.

2. Professional or Employment inequality: In terms of employment as well as promotion in

work and occupation, women often face greater handicap than men. A country like Japan and
India may be quite egalitarian in matters of demography or basic facilities, and even, to a great
extent, in higher education, and yet progress to elevated levels of employment and occupation
seems to be much more problematic for women than for men. The example of employment
inequality can be explained by saying that men get priority in seeking job than women.

3. Ownership inequality: In many societies the ownership of property can also be very unequal.
Even basic assets such as homes and land may be very asymmetrically shared. The absence of
claims to property can not only reduce the voice of women, but also make it harder for women to
enter and flourish in commercial, economic and even some social activities. This type of
inequality has existed in most parts of the world, though there are also local variations. For
example, even though traditional property rights have favoured men in the bulk of India.

4. Household inequality: There are often enough, basic inequalities in gender relations within
the family or the household, which can take many different forms. Even in cases in which there
are no overt signs of anti-female bias in, say, survival or son-preference or education, or even in
promotion to higher executive positions, the family arrangements can be quite unequal in terms
of sharing the burden of housework and child care. It is, for example, quite common in many
societies to take it for granted that while men will naturally work outside the home, women could
do it if and only if they could combine it with various inescapable and unequally shared
household duties. This is sometimes called "division of labour," though women could be
forgiven for seeing it as "accumulation of labour." The reach of this inequality includes not only
unequal relations within the family, but also derivative inequalities in employment and
recognition in the outside world. Also, the established fixity of this type of "division" or
"accumulation" of labour can also have far-reaching effects on the knowledge and understanding
of different types of work in professional circles.

5. Special opportunity inequality: Even when there is relatively little difference in basic
facilities including schooling, the opportunities of higher education may be far fewer for young
women than for young men. Indeed, gender bias in higher education and professional training
can be observed even in some of the richest countries in the world, in India too. Sometimes this
type of division has been based on the superficially innocuous idea that the respective
"provinces" of men and women are just different.

8
d. But see Krishna Singh v. Mathura Ahir, 1980 A.I.R. 707 (S.C.) (Supreme Court
indicated in dicta that part III of the Constitution does not affect personal law).

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Issues that Need Investigation
This is the issue which needs some investigation. The problems out coming are as follows:
(1) Under nourishment of girls over boys: At the time of birth, girls are obviously no more
nutritionally deprived than boys are, but this situation changes as society's unequal treatment
takes over from nature's non-discrimination.

There has, in fact, been plenty of aggregative evidence on this for quite some time now. But this
has been accompanied by some anthropological scepticism of the appropriateness of using
aggregate statistics with pooled data from different regions to interpret the behaviour of
individual families. However, there have also been some Detailed and concretely local studies on
this subject, which confirm the picture that emerges on the basis of aggregate statistics. One case
study from India, performed in 1983, involved the weighing of every child in two large villages.
The time pattern that emerged from this micro study, which concentrated particularly on weight-
for-age as the chosen indicator of nutritional level for children under five, brings out clearly how
an initial condition of broad nutritional symmetry turns gradually into a situation of Significant
female disadvantage.

The detailed local studies tend to confirm rather than contradict the picture that emerges from
aggregate statistics. In interpreting the causal process, it is important to emphasise that the lower
level of nourishment of girls9 may not relate directly to their being underfed vis-à-vis boys. Often
enough, the differences may particularly arise from the neglect of health care of girls compared
with what boys get. There is, in fact, some direct information of comparative medical neglect of
girl’s vis-à-vis boys in South Asia. Indeed, when In a study, admissions data from two large
public hospitals in Bombay (Mumbai), it was very striking to find clear evidence that the
admitted girls were typically more ill than boys, suggesting the inference that a girl has to be
more stricken before she is taken to the hospital. Under nourishment may well result from greater
morbidity, which can adversely affect both the absorption of nutrients and the performance of
bodily functions.

2) High incidence of maternal under nourishment: In South Asia mostly in India, maternal
under nutrition is more common than in most other regions of the world. Comparisons of Body
Mass Index (BMI), which is essentially a measure of weight for height, bring this out clearly
enough, as do statistics of such consequential characteristics as the incidence of anaemia.

(3) Prevalence of low birth weight: In South Asia, as many as 21 per cent of children are born
clinically underweight (in accepted medical standards) - more than in any other substantial

9
female Infanticide in Rajasthan, INDIA SPEAKS, Oct. 8, 1992, at 21, provides a chilling
story:
The Rajput families have only one daughter each. Only the eldest daughter is
allowed to survive as it is difficult to get a daughter married. The women admit that
almost every family in the village is guilty of murdering their second daughter.

13 | P a g e
region in the world.17. The predicament of being low in weight in childhood seems often enough
to begin at birth in the case of South Asian children. In terms of weight for age, South Asia has
around 40 to 60 per cent children undernourished compared with 20 to 40 per cent under
nourishment even in sub-Saharan Africa. The children start deprived and stay deprived.

(4) High incidence of cardiovascular diseases: South Asia stands out as having more
cardiovascular diseases than any other part of the third world. Even when other countries, such
as China, have greater prevalence of the standard predisposing conditions, the Indian population
seems to have more heart problems than these other countries have. It is not difficult to see that
the first three observations are very likely causally connected. The neglect of the care of girls and
of women in general and the underlying gender bias that they reflect would tend to yield more
maternal under nourishment, and through that more foetal deprivation and distress, underweight
babies, and child under nourishment. But what about the last observation - the higher incidence
of cardiovascular diseases among South Asian adults? In this it has been shown that low birth
weight is closely associated with higher incidence, many decades later, of several adult diseases,
including hypertension, glucose intolerance, and other cardiovascular hazards. The robustness of
the statistical connections as well as the causal mechanisms involved in intrauterine growth
retardation can, of course, be further investigated, but as matters stand these medical findings
offer a possibility of causally interconnecting the different empirical observations related to
South Asia, The application of this medical understanding to the phenomenon of high incidence
of cardiovascular diseases in South Asia strongly suggests a causal pattern that goes from the
nutritional neglect of women to maternal under nourishment, from there to foetal growth
retardation and underweight babies, and thence to greater incidence of cardiovascular afflictions
much later in adult life (along with the phenomenon of undernourished children in the shorter
run). What begins as a neglect of the interests of women ends up causing adversities in the health
and survival of all - even at an advanced age? Given the uniquely critical role of women in the
reproductive process, it would be hard to imagine that the deprivation to which women are
subjected would not have some adverse impact on the lives of all - men as well as women and
adults as well as children - who are "born of a woman" (as the Book of Job describes every
person, not particularly daringly). Indeed, since men suffer disproportionately more from
cardiovascular diseases, the suffering of women hit men even harder, in this respect. The
extensive penalties of neglecting women's interest rebounds; it appears, on men with a
vengeance

Focusing On India
While there is something to cheer in the developments I have just been discussing, and there is
considerable evidence of a weakened hold of gender disparity in several fields in the
subcontinent, there is also, alas, some evidence of a movement in the contrary direction, at least
in one aspect of gender inequality, namely, natality inequality. This has been brought out
particularly sharply by the early results of the 2001 decennial national Census of India, which are
now available. Early results indicate that even though the overall female to male ratio has

14 | P a g e
improved slightly for the country as a whole (with a corresponding reduction of the proportion of
"missing women"), the female-male ratio for children has had a substantial decline. For India as
a whole, the female-male ratio of the population under age 6 has fallen from 94.5 girls for
hundred boys in 1991 to 92.7 girls per hundred boys in 2001.

While there has been no such decline in some parts of the country (most notably Kerala), it has
fallen very sharply in others, such as Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Maharashtra, which are
among the richer Indian States. Taking together all the evidence that exists, it is clear that this
change reflects not a rise in female child mortality, but a fall in female births vis-à-vis male
births, and is almost certainly connected with increased availability and use of gender
determination of foetuses. Fearing that sex-selective abortion10 might occur in India, the Indian
Parliament banned some years ago the use of sex determination techniques for foetuses, except
when it is a by-product of other

Necessary medical investigation. But it appears that the enforcement of this law has been
comprehensively neglected. This face of gender inequality cannot, therefore, be removed, at least
in the short run, by the enhancement of women's empowerment and agency, since that agency is
itself an integral part of the cause of natality inequality. Policy initiatives have to take adequate
note of the fact that the pattern of gender inequality seems to be shifting in India, right at this
time, from mortality inequality (the female life expectancy at birth is by now two years higher
than male life expectancy in India) to natality inequality. Indeed, there is clear evidence that
traditional routes of changing gender inequality, through using public policy to influence female
education and female economic participation, may not serve as a path to the removal of natality
inequality.

A sharp pointer in that direction comes from countries in East Asia, which all have high levels of
female education and economic participation. Despite these achievements, compared with the
biologically common ratio across the world of 95 girls being born per hundred boys, Singapore
and Taiwan have 92 girls, South Korea only 88, and China a mere 86. In fact, South Korea's
overall female-male ratio for children is also a meagre 88 girls for 100 boys and China's 85 girls
for 100 boys. In comparison, the Indian ratio of 92.7 girls or 100 boys (though lower than its
previous figure of 94.5) still looks far less unfavourable.

However, there are more grounds for concern than may be suggested by the current all-India
average. First, there are substantial variations within India, and the all-India average hides the
fact that there are States in India where the female-male ratio for children is very much lower
than the Indian average. Second, it has to be asked whether with the spread of sex-selective

10
Van Willigen & Channa, supra note 43, at 369. "Police records do not match hospital
records for third degree burn cases among younger married women; far more violence
occurs than crime reports indicate." /d.

15 | P a g e
abortion, India may catch up with - and perhaps even go beyond - Korea and China. There is, in
fact, strong evidence that this is happening in a big way in parts of the country.

There is, however, something of a social and cultural divide across India, splitting the country
into two nearly contiguous halves, in the extent of anti-female bias in natality and post-natality
mortality. Since more boys are born than girls everywhere in the world, even without sex-
specific abortion, we can use as a classificatory benchmark the female-male ratio among children
in advanced industrial countries11. The female-male ratio for the 0-5 age group is 94.8 in
Germany, 95.0 in the U.K., and 95.7 in the U.S., and perhaps we can sensibly pick the German
ratio of 94.8 as the cut-off point below which we should suspect anti-female intervention. The
use of this dividing line produces a remarkable geographical split of India. There are the States in
the north and the west where the female-male ratio of children is consistently below the
benchmark figure, led by Punjab, Haryana, Delhi and Gujarat (with ratios between 79.3 and
87.8), and also including, among others, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttar
Pradesh, Maharashtra, Jammu and Kashmir, and Bihar (a tiny exception is Dadra and Nagar
Haveli, with less than a quarter million people altogether).

On the other side of the divide, the States in the east and the south tend to have female-male
ratios that are above the benchmark line of 94.8 girls per 100 boys: with Kerala, Andhra Pradesh,
West Bengal and Assam (each between 96.3 and 96.6), and also, among others, Orissa,
Karnataka and the north-eastern States to the east of Bangladesh (Meghalaya, Mizoram,
Manipur, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh). One significant exception to this neat pattern of
adjoining division is, however, provided by Tamil Nadu, where the Female-male ratio is just
below 94, which is higher than the ratio of any State in the deficit list, but still just below the cut-
off line used for the partitioning (94.8). The astonishing finding is not that one particular State
seems to provide a marginal misfit, but how the vast majority of the Indian States fall firmly into
two contiguous halves.

Classified broadly into the north and the west, on one side, and the south and the east, on the
other. Indeed, every State in the north and the west (with the slight exception of the tiny Union
Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli) has strictly lower female-male ratio of children than every

11
DESAI & KRiSHNARAj, supra note I, at 186-87. Hindu law comprises the branches of
Mitakshara and Dayabhaga. This part analyzes the Mitakshara coparcenary in which the
three generations of males are "related to the male ego as grandfather and his brothers,
father and his brothers, cousins, sons and nephews, and their wives, unmarried daughters
and sisters." Id. at 187; see SUNDERLAL T. DESAI, MULLA PRINCIPLES OF HINDU LAw 238-317
(1990); Gurupad v. Hirabhai, 1978 A.I.R. 1239 (S.C.) (defining coparcenary). Unlike the
Mitakshara coparcenary, which is applied in the majority of India, the Dayabhaga coparcenary
is confined to Bengal and Assam. Lucy Carroll, Daughter'S Right of Inheritance in India: A
Perspective on the Problem of Dowry, 25 MODERN ASIAN STUDIES 791, 793 (1991). For a detailed
explanation of the Dayabhaga coparcenary, see id. at 802-05.

16 | P a g e
State in the east and the south (even Tamil Nadu fits into this classification), and this indeed is
quite remarkable.

The pattern of female-male ratio of children produces a much sharper regional classification than
does the female male ratio of mortality of children, even though the two are also fairly strongly
correlated. The female-male ratio in child mortality varies between 0.91 in West Bengal and 0.93
in Kerala, on one side, in the southern and eastern group, to 1.30 in Punjab, Haryana and Uttar
Pradesh, with high ratios also in Gujarat, Bihar and Rajasthan, in the northern and western group.
The north and the west have clear characteristics of anti-female bias in a way that is not present -
or at least not yet Visible - in most of the east and the south. This contrast does not have any
immediate economic explanation. The States with anti-female bias include rich ones (Punjab and
Haryana) as well as poor States (Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh), and fast-growing States
(Gujarat and Maharashtra) as well as growth failures (Bihar and Uttar Pradesh). Also, the
incidence of sex-specific abortions cannot be explained by the availability of medical resources
for determining the sex of the foetus: Kerala and West Bengal in the non-deficit list, both with
the ratio of 96.3 girls to 100 boys (comfortably higher than the benchmark cut-off of 94.8), have
at least as much medical facilities as in such deficit States as Madhya Pradesh or Rajasthan. If
commercial facilities for sex-selected abortion are infrequent in Kerala or West Bengal, it is
because of a low demand for those specific services, rather than any great supply side barrier.

It would also be important to keep a close watch on whether the incidence of sex-specific
abortions will significantly increase in States in which they are at this time quite uncommon. It
was never meant to be an elitist idea. It has come and assumed from the grassroots level. The
women parliamentarians have been able to make many changes to address the state of women in
India. But one can never say enough has been done for women.

In India, this problem is mainly in work places i.e. related to Sexual Harassment and Wage
Payment and related to inheritance. Although, judiciary decided in favour of the deceased i.e. the
suffered parties. There are many landmark and famous cases of gender discrimination in work
place like that of Vishaka v. State of Rajasthan12 it was held that a woman was brutally gang
raped in the village of Rajasthan. The incident reveals the hazards to which a working woman
may be exposed and the depravity to which sexual harassment can degenerate; and the urgency
for safeguards by an alternative mechanism in the absence of legislative measures. In the absence
of legislative measures, the need is to find an effective alternative mechanism to fulfil this felt
and urgent social need. So, a writ of Mandamus was filed in Supreme Court under Article 32 of
the Indian constitution. Later the Supreme Court decided that direct that the certain guidelines
and norms would be strictly observed in all work places for the preservation and enforcement of

12
AIR 1997 SC 323;(1997) 6 SCC 241, where while laying down guidelines for
dealing with the problem of sexual harassment of women at the work place, the supreme court emphasised that
international conventions and norms were to be read into the enforceable fundamental rights in the absence of
domestic law occupying the field when there is no inconsistency between them.

17 | P a g e
the right to gender equality of the working women. These directions would be binding and
enforceable in law until suitable legislation is enacted to occupy the field.

Since Article 15(3) itself hints substantive approach, its application for giving special
educational facilities, for giving representation in local bodies and for protection in places of
work has a substantive dimension. Upholding a service rule that preferred women in recruitment
to public employment to the extent of 30% of posts, the Supreme Court stated in Government of
A.P. v. P.B. Vijayakumar: "To say that under Article 15(3) job opportunities for women cannot
be created would be to cut at the very root of the underlying inspiration behind this Article.
Making special provision for women in respect of employments or posts under the state is an
integral part of Article 15(3)".

Also, In Mackinnon Mackenzie & Co. Ltd v. Audrey D'Costa The Court observed that there
was discrimination in payment of wages to lady stenographers and such discrimination was
being perpetuated under the garb of a settlement between the employees and the employer. The
Court finally not only made it mandatory to pay equal remuneration to lady stenographers as
their male counterparts but also observed that the ground of financial incapability of the
management cannot be a ground to seek exemption from the Equal Remuneration Act, 197613.

Andhra Pradesh's Hindu Succession (Amendment) Act 198614 is a piece of legislation that ought
to be replicated in all our states. The Act confers equal rights of inheritance to Hindu women
along with men, thus achieving the constitutional mandate of equality. An important measure
undertaken to thereby eradicate the ills brought about by the dowry system while simultaneously
ameliorating the condition of women in Hindu society

But now after the decision of the Supreme Court in Gurupad Khandappa Magdum v Hirabai
Khandappa Magdum and that till such time, such ascertained share is handed over, the Hindu
Undivided Family (HUF) would continue to be treated as the owner of such assets,
notwithstanding the ascertained shares of such female heir as part of the corpus of the Hindu
family, even as held in State of Maharashtra v Narayan Rao Sham Rao Deshmukh . And
also after the amendment of Hindu Succession Act in September 2005 under Sec. 3(2), the right
of a Hindu widow to get the full share of her late husband in coparcenary property (with limited
interest — later enlarged to absolute right) continues or has been curtailed now. It means that
From September 2005, daughters also have become coparceners.

13
The Equal Renumeration Act, No. 25 (1976) (India), reprinted in P.L. MALIK, INDUSTRIAL
LAw 821 (1990).
14
Hindu Succession Act, supra note 4, § 23; see Punwasi v. Sukha Devi, 1986 A.I.R. 139,
140 (All.) (male intestate's married daughter may not ask for a partition of the dwelling
house).

18 | P a g e
So, these are some landmarks where the legislature and judiciary had performed a well job i.e. by
serving in favour of the deceased or victim in a way that the truth or right should not to fail.

Measures to Solve Gender Inequality15

Every problem has its own solution elsewhere or whatever the problem is? Like this
phenomenon this problems has many measures out of which some of the simple one are stated
below (except legislative and judicial Solutions).

1. Changes at District level mechanism: A clear cut administrative should be made available at
the district level for monitoring and reviewing the incidence of inequality against women. This
district level machinery headed by District Magistrate should consist of representatives of police,
prosecution machinery, judiciary and the representatives of prominent individuals of women’s
organizations in the Districts. This committee should review progress of investigation and
prosecution. At least one special cell should be created at the district level for ensuring better
registration and progress of investigation and monitoring of crimes against gender equality. This
special cell should network with community groups and women’s organizations and help to
create an atmosphere in which people would feel encouraged to freely report the cases of gender
injustice. At present, most, non-reporting of the cases is due to lack of confidence in enforcement
machinery.

The reporting of violence against women from the Thana to the district level and from district
level to the state level gets obscured in the overall mass and complexities of the currently
prescribed reporting system. Specific format should be created and implemented for reporting on
gender-related crimes.

2. Changes at State level Mechanism: Similarly, like District level mechanism there should be
State level machinery at the State level in which there should be special entry for those cases
which needs prompt actions. This institution will make a full control over the district level
machinery. So that there should not be any corruption or fraud with innocent persons.

3. Law of Torts: An area of civil wrong is tort law. Tort law is probably one of the most
underutilized areas of the law with respect to the problem of gender injustice. The torts that are
directly applicable are:
Assault
Battery
Unlawful imprisonment
Nuisance

15
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING, RESEARCH AND
REFERENCE DIVISION, INDIA 1991, A REFERENCE ANNUAL 13 (1992) [hereinafter INDIA 1991].
This figure refers to the 1981 census.

19 | P a g e
Tort of harassment
Tort of Medical pre- natal test
It means that there can be punishment under tort law also.

4. Sensitization of Criminal Justice system: The police officers, prosecutors, and judges at all
levels of hierarchy need to be exposed to the gender equality education which would enlighten
them on existing assumptions, myths and stereotypes of women and how these can interfere with
fair and equitable administration of justice. Judicial system should comprise of all types of
officers i.e. from judiciary i.e. judges, police officers and which should take immediate action in
serious cases.

5. Family Law: Another of wrong is family law also. In this accused can be punished under
Domestic Violence Act, 2005 and Dowry Prohibition Act, 1987 other laws relating to family
disputes. The suit/ case can be filed for domestic violence or any other household wrong.

Racial and ethnic inequality

Racial or ethnic inequality is the result of hierarchical social distinctions between racial and
ethnic categories within a society and often established based on characteristics such as skin
color and other physical characteristics or an individual's place of origin or culture. Even though
race has no biological connection, it has become a socially constructed category capable of
restricting or enabling social status. Unequal treatment and opportunities between such
categories is usually the result of some categories being considered superior to others. This
inequality can manifest through discriminatory hiring and pay practices. In some cases,
employers have been shown to prefer hiring potential employees based on the perceived
ethnicity of a candidate's given name - even if all they have to go by in their decision are resumes
featuring identical qualifications16. These sorts of discriminatory practices stem
from prejudice and stereotyping, which occurs when people form assumptions about the
tendencies and characteristics of certain social categories, often rooted in assumptions about
biology, cognitive capabilities, or even inherent moral failings. These negative attributions are
then disseminated through a society through a number of different mediums, including
television, newspapers and the internet, all of which play a role in promoting preconceived
notions of race that disadvantage and marginalize groups of people. This along

16
INDIA CONST. art. 13(1). For an in-depth discussion on the scope of Article 13, see DR.
DURGA DAS BASU, SHORTER CONSTITUTION OF INDIA 63-65 (1989).

20 | P a g e
with xenophobia and other forms of discrimination continue to occur in societies with the rise of
globalization.
Racial inequality can also result in diminished opportunities for members
of marginalized groups, which in turn can lead to cycles of poverty and political marginalization.
Racial and ethnic categories become a minority category in a society. Minority members in such
a society are often subjected to discriminatory actions resulting from majority policies,
including assimilation, exclusion, oppression, expulsion, and extermination. For example, during
the run-up to the 2012 federal elections in the United States, legislation in certain “battleground
states” that claimed to target voter fraud had the effect of disenfranchising tens of thousands of
primarily African American voters. These types of institutional barriers to full and equal social
participation have far-reaching effects within marginalized communities, including reduced
economic opportunity and output, reduced educational outcomes and opportunities and reduced
levels of overall health.
In the United States, Angela Davis argues that mass incarceration has been a modern tool of the
state to impose inequality, repression, and discrimination upon African American and
Hispanics. The War on Drugs has been a campaign with disparate effects, ensuring the constant
incarceration of poor, vulnerable, and marginalized populations in North America. Over a
million African Americans are incarcerated in the US, many of whom have been convicted of a
drug possession charge. With the States of Colorado and Washington having legalized the
possession of marijuana, drug reformists and anti-war on drugs lobbyists are hopeful that drug
issues will be interpreted and dealt with from a healthcare perspective instead of a matter of
criminal law. In Canada, Aboriginal, First Nations and Indigenous persons represent over a
quarter of the federal prison population, even though they only represent 3% of the country's
population.

Age inequality

Age discrimination is defined as the unfair treatment of people with regard to promotions,
recruitment, resources, or privileges because of their age. It is also known as ageism: the
stereotyping of and discrimination against individuals or groups based upon their age. It is a set
of beliefs, attitudes, norms, and values used to justify age-based prejudice, discrimination, and
subordination. One form of ageism is adultism, which is the discrimination against children and
people under the legal adult age an example of an act of adultism might be the policy of a certain
establishment, restaurant, or place of business to not allow those under the legal adult age to
enter their premises after a certain time or at all. While some people may benefit or enjoy these
practices, some find them offensive and discriminatory. Discrimination against those under the
age of 40 however is not illegal under the current U.S. Age Discrimination in Employment Act
(ADEA).

21 | P a g e
As implied in the definitions above, treating people differently based upon their age is not
necessarily discrimination. Virtually every society has age-stratification, meaning that the age
structure in a society changes as people begin to live longer and the population becomes older. In
most cultures, there are different social role expectations for people of different ages to perform.
Every society manages people's ageing by allocating certain roles for different age groups. Age
discrimination primarily occurs when age is used as an unfair criterion for allocating more or less
resources. Scholars of age inequality have suggested that certain social organizations favor
particular age inequalities. For instance, because of their emphasis on training and maintaining
productive citizens, modern capitalist societies may dedicate disproportionate resources to
training the young and maintaining the middle-aged worker to the detriment of the elderly and
the retired (especially those already disadvantaged by income/wealth inequality).
In modern, technologically advanced societies, there is a tendency for both the young and the old
to be relatively disadvantaged. However, more recently, in the United States the tendency is for
the young to be most disadvantaged. For example, poverty levels in the U.S. have been
decreasing among people aged 65 and older since the early 1970s whereas the number children
under 18 in poverty has steadily risen. Sometimes, the elderly have had the opportunity to build
their wealth throughout their lives, younger people have the disadvantage of recently entering
into or having not yet entered into the economic sphere. The larger contributor to this, however is
the increase in the number of people over 65 receiving Social Security and Medicare benefits in
the U.S.
When we compare income distribution among youth across the globe, we find that about half
(48.5 percent) of the world's young people are confined to the bottom two income brackets as of
2007. This means that, out of the three billion persons under the age of 24 in the world as of
2007, approximately 1.5 billion were living in situations in which they and their families had
access to just nine percent of global income. Moving up the income distribution ladder, children
and youth do not fare much better: more than two-thirds of the world's youth have access to less
than 20 percent of global wealth, with 86 percent of all young people living on about one-third of
world income. For the just over 400 million youth who are fortunate enough to rank among
families or situations at the top of the income distribution, however, opportunities improve
greatly with more than 60 percent of global income within their reach.
Although this does not exhaust the scope of age discrimination, in modern societies it is often
discussed primarily with regards to the work environment. Indeed, non-participation in the
labour force and the unequal access to rewarding jobs means that the elderly and the young are
often subject to unfair disadvantages because of their age. On the one hand, the elderly are less
likely to be involved in the workforce: At the same time, old age may or may not put one at a
disadvantage in accessing positions of prestige. Old age may benefit one in such positions, but it
may also disadvantage one because of negative ageist stereotyping of old people. On the other
hand, young people are often disadvantaged from accessing prestigious or relatively rewarding
jobs, because of their recent entry to the work force or because they are still completing their

22 | P a g e
education. Typically, once they enter the labour force or take a part-time job while in school,
they start at entry level positions with low level wages. Furthermore, because of their lack of
prior work experience, they can also often be forced to take marginal jobs, where they can be
taken advantage of by their employers.

Inequalities in health
Health inequalities can be defined as differences in health status or in the distribution of health
determinants between different population groups. Health inequalities are in many cases related
to access to health care. In industrialized nations, health inequalities are most prevalent in
countries that have not implemented a universal health care system, such as the United States.
Because the US health care system is heavily privatized, access to health care is dependent upon
one's economic capital; Health care is not a right, it is a commodity that can be purchased
through private insurance companies (or that is sometimes provided through an employer). The
way health care is organized in the U.S. contributes to health inequalities based on
gender, socioeconomic status and race/ethnicity. As Wright and Perry assert, “social status
differences in health care are a primary mechanism of health inequalities”. In the United States,
over 48 million people are without medical care coverage. This means that almost one sixth of
the population is without health insurance, mostly people belonging to the lower classes of
society.
While universal access to health care may not completely eliminate health inequalities, it has
been shown that it greatly reduces them. In this context, privatization gives individuals the
'power' to purchase their own health care (through private health insurance companies), but this
leads to social inequality by only allowing people who have economic resources to access health
care. Citizens are seen as consumers who have a 'choice' to buy the best health care they can
afford; in alignment with neoliberal ideology, this puts the burden on the individual rather than
the government or the community.
In countries that have a universal health care system, health inequalities have been reduced. In
Canada, for example, equity in the availability of health services has been improved dramatically
through Medicare. People don't have to worry about how they will pay health care, or rely on
emergency rooms for care, since health care is provided for the entire population. However,
inequality issues still remain. For example, not everyone has the same level of access to
services. Inequalities in health are not, however, only related to access to health care. Even if
everyone had the same level of access, inequalities may still remain. This is because health status
is a product of more than just how much medical care people have available to them. While
Medicare has equalized access to health care by removing the need for direct payments at the
time of services, which improved the health of low status people, inequities in health are still
prevalent in Canada. This may be due to the state of the current social system, which bear other
types of inequalities such as economic, racial and gender inequality.

23 | P a g e
A lack of health equity is also evident in the developing world, where the importance of
equitable access to healthcare has been cited as crucial to achieving many of the Millennium
Development Goals. Health inequalities can vary greatly depending on the country one is
looking at. Inequalities in health are often associated with socioeconomic status and access to
health care. Health inequities can occur when the distribution of public health services is
unequal. For example, in Indonesia in 1990, only 12% of government spending for health was
for services consumed by the poorest 20% of households, while the wealthiest 20% consumed
29% of the government subsidy in the health sector. Access to health care is heavily influenced
by socioeconomic status as well, as wealthier population groups have a higher probability of
obtaining care when they need it. A study by Makinen et al. (2000) found that in the majority of
developing countries they looked at, there was an upward trend by quintile in health care use for
those reporting illness. Wealthier groups are also more likely to be seen by doctors and to receive
medicine.

Ways to Tackle Inequalities in India

Make inequality a political campaign issue17: Despite being important to the electorate,
inequality is absent from major political campaigns. Inequality clearly matters in Asia. A
recent poll found that 82% of Indians see it as a major problem. It doesn't take an economist or a
sociologist to know that such sharp inequalities are unsustainable. But curiously, in the loud
political discourse that assaults us non-stop in the run-up to the general elections, none of the major
parties has made fighting inequality a real issue in their campaigns.

Introduce land reforms and raise taxation for the wealthy: We should work towards reducing
asset inequality through redistributive land reforms but also through inheritance taxes, preventing
monopoly of control over water, forests and mineral resources and reducing financial

17
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE, NEW DEHU, TOWARDS
EQUAUTY, REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA 137 (1975) [hereinafter
TOWARDS EQUAUTY].

24 | P a g e
concentration. The equality of opportunity needs to be increased through good quality and
universal public provision of essential amenities and social services. We can raise the public
resources for doing all this by taxing the wealthy more and by increasing the effective taxation of
corporations, which have benefited greatly from the boom and more than doubled their share of
national income, but not been taxed accordingly.

Give a voice to oppressed groups: We can tackle bias against caste and gender first of all by
recognizing the value and dignity of all work (including unpaid work) and all workers (including
those in the most difficult arduous and degraded occupations). We should also provide a greater
voice to traditionally oppressed and suppressed groups, including by enabling unions and
association, and making public and corporate private activity more transparent and accountable to
the people generally.

Improve the balance of mass media: The media in India plays a role in sustaining
inequality. This is becoming an urgent problem. We must take measures to reduce corporate
takeover and manipulation of mass media.

Eliminate caste discrimination: Caste discrimination is still all pervasive. Discrimination based
on caste status is a root cause of the high poverty levels that caste-affected people experience. Most
Dalits, live below the poverty line, earn less than the minimum wage, have no access to education,
experience segregation in access to housing and suffer from numerous diseases, not least because
of lack of access to safe drinking water and sanitation. This inequality is exacerbated by the lack
of implementation of existing laws to protect the Dalits.

Harness the power of technology: Policymakers should not forget that technology has helped in
reducing some of the access barriers in India, particularly in relation to access to information.
Policymakers should focus on making technology cheaper and deepening its penetration.

Widen access to quality basic services18: A two-tier system has been created, with largely
privatised quality education and health care for those who can pay, and a large population left to
fend for themselves with very poor quality public services.

Make women more visible in public life and institutions: It is shocking to see that in India
women make up only 5% of the total police force, just two out of 24 Supreme Court judges and
as we are going through polls right now, only 11% of the last parliament are women.

18
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA, DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WELFARE, NEW DEHU, TOWARDS
EQUAUTY, REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE OF THE STATUS OF WOMEN IN INDIA 137 (1975) [hereinafter
TOWARDS EQUAUTY].

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Ensure that India's growth is for the benefit of the many, not the few: India is a place of
increasingly stark extremes in wealth. In the same India where millions use smartphones,
millions live in poverty. Within India, there are many different countries. One is high-flying and
tech-savvy, with people driving flashy cars in and out of top-starred hotels and clubs. Another is
white-collared middle class, and another is still struggling to survive.

Make development inclusive of those with disabilities: As far as India is concerned, we might
score very highly in terms of growth of physical infrastructure, but most of the public places are
inaccessible to people with disabilities. As per the 2011 census, India has about 2.7 million
people with disabilities, and only a handful of those enjoy education and/or employment.

Challenge the growth agenda: Beware of phrases like 'inclusive growth' and 'growth with a
human face'. These concepts are not helpful and basically serve the purpose of hiding the
structural violence and poverty in India.

Ensure that all groups and communities can express their voice without fear: While they
may have the vote, Dalits in the past experienced election violence. In the last election the
National Dalit Election Watch (NDEW) recorded 263 incidents of election violence against
Dalits, formally known as untouchables, in India. The violence manifests in several forms with
Dalits being threatened, abused and prevented from voting and also violently attacked after the
polls.

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LEGAL PROVISIONS

Section 498A:
of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which defines the offence of matrimonial cruelty, was inserted
into the IPC by an amendment in 1983

A Cry Still Unheard: The Menace Of Female Foeticide In India: Female foeticide is a heinous
act and an indicator of violence against women. Still after many years of the making and
imposing of

Adultery- the need for change in IPC: This articles raises various issues with reference to Section
497 of IPC i.e adultery. It also suggests changes for the same

Salient features of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955: Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 has reformed Hindu
law of Marriage. It is a landmark in the history

Divorce under Muslim Law: Firm union of the husband and wife is a necessary condition for a
happy family life. Islam therefore

Domestic Violence Act - Fundamental rights: Domestic violence is sadly a reality in Indian
society, a truism. In the Indian

Subjugation of women rights lead to violation of human rights: Human rights as an issue
occupies centre stage in contemporary public debate

Female Foeticide: The Article is about the problem of female foeticide and how it has grown
over the years. On what basis is

Medical termination of Pregnancy: how blatantly is the right to life of a mother and a disabled
child violated when the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act, 1971...

Right of Abortion v. Child in Mother's Womb: Abortion means deliberate ending of a pregnancy
at an early stage. Abortion is the subject of strong public debate, especially in the US

Eve teasing In India And Tortious Liabilities: The term Eve teasing is used to refer to sexual
harassment of women in public places

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Bride burning & Laws in India: The system of dowry is deep rooted in the Indian society since
the early days of the history

Law, Women And Advertisements: The Advertising Standards Council’s Code for Self-
regulation defines an advertisement as

legal position of Eunuchs: This article is a very rare and sensitive article which delves

Women Suffrage: A comparative perspective toward women’s voting right between

Scandinavian and Middle Eastern countries -with a focus in Iran

Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005: Despite of these legislations there is
no legislation which particularly

Personal Dignity: Dignity is a universal human concern. Its moral agenda is to attempt a double
kind of evaluation of the

Commercial Sex Workers: The commercial sex worker has been a universal being throughout
civilization as prostitution

Women and Violence: Violence affects the lives of millions of women worldwide, in all socio-
economic and educational classes

Domestic Violence Act, 2005-A Bane Or A Boon?: Domestic violence is one of the gravest and
the most pervasive human rights violation

A Woman Can't Rape Woman: In State Govt. V. Sheodayal (1956 Cr LJ 83 M.P) M.P High
court opined that modesty of a woman can be outraged by another women u/s 354.

Rights Of Second Wife: Second marriage, during the subsistence of the first marriage, is illegal

Violence against women: This research paper introduces the discussion of legal responses to
violence against women.

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