Presentation on “SOCIAL EXCLUSION” based on

Social Assessment Report of Ministry of Rural

Development, Government of India

By

Sri A. M.M.Zakir

Joint Director / Head, Training & Research

SIRD, Assam

SOCIAL EXCLUSION

• Some groups are more disadvantaged than others.

• Poor face many types of exclusion. They are

- Geographic.

- Economic.

- Social.

- Political.

- Identity base.

• Geographic exclusion is associated with remoteness,

poor connectivity, difficult terrain, poor access to

services, low agriculture or resource potential.

• Economic exclusion is due to lack of access to labour

market, credit and other capital assets among some

people.people.

• Social exclusion cut across all other forms of

exclusion. Socially excluded people suffer from

multiple disadvantages and discrimination on the basis

of identity.

• Poorest of the poor tend to be highly excluded

socially.

• Caste discrimination has been identified as

the most pronounced and prevalent form

exclusion

Institutions work against interest of the poor.

• Lack of access to the institutions that deliver services for livelihoods and development.

• Institutions are of two types – formal and informal.

• Formal institutions – which provide health, education, water, sanitation, PDS etc.

• Formal institutions – social, religious, political association.

• Constraints that poor faced in accessing service

are – poor physical access, affordability and social

distance including discriminating attitude.

• Poor targeting low quality of services and high

transaction cost made the institutions inaccessible

to the poor.

Development effort fail to reach poor.

• Better among the target group corner most of the benefit.

• Primitive tribal groups, experience physical segregation, miss out services do not have access to segregation, miss out services do not have access to economic services.

• Institutions on which poor relay also become an important source of exclusion.

• Procedure for service delivery result in high transaction cost for the poor.

• Banks – procedure for loans are complicated and time consuming.

• Community based organisation exclude the most poor.

• Poorest still being excluded by SHGs.• Poorest still being excluded by SHGs.

• Rigidity in norms is found to be main reason for exclusion of the many poor and vulnerable groups.

• Exclusion from PRIs and Gram Sabhas.

• Geographical exclusion.

• Economic exclusion.

Create social inequality.

Financial inclusion – banks are not operating effectively and efficiently to meet the need of the poor.

Poor incur high prices than better off for similar services.

• Political exclusion.

Denial of rights to political participation, right to

organise, denial of personal security, rule of law,

freedom of expression and quality of opportunity.

Political exclusion is the unequal process of resourcePolitical exclusion is the unequal process of resource

distribution and accumulation of wealth based on

power.

Social exclusion – a process by which certain

groups are disadvantaged because they are

discriminated against on various grounds.

• Cast based exclusion.

• Gender based exclusion.

-Affect men or women in different

circumstances.

-Exclusion of women remained widespread

and systematic.

-Women exclusion is often supported by

social norms or religious values

-Traditional barriers still prevent women from venturing out of home to work.

-Women also continue to face barriers to political participation.

-Gender based exclusion can affect men also.

-Burden of having a secure livelihoods for survival and well being rests on them.

• Religious based exclusion

– can deny people social, economic, political and legal rights and opportunities on religious identity.

• Disabled or physically / mentally challenged often have limited access to education, health and public have limited access to education, health and public service.

• Age based exclusion – old age is usually associated with retirement and hence exclusion in public sphere.

• Social exclusion may be multiple and cumulative.

• Various forms of exclusion are not mutually

exclusive and unlimited.

• Social exclusion of any type can be the cause of

poverty, conflict and insecurity.

• Socially excluded tend to be among the poorest of

the poor.

Exclusion causes poverty in two ways:

• Excluding individual from opportunity available.

• By understanding and economic productive • By understanding and economic productive

potential.

• People who are socially excluded are ofteninvisible in poverty analysis where income is theusual measure of the poverty.

• Socially excluded are least likely to be able tocontribute to benefit from development.contribute to benefit from development.

• Poverty reduction is made harder by social andother forms of exclusion.

• Social exclusion also result in other disadvantages.

For example

• Socially excluded groups faced exploitation.

• Excluded groups have asymmetric patron client relationship.

• Bonded labour is an extreme form of this type.• Bonded labour is an extreme form of this type.

• Some cast and tribes have resorted to criminal activity on account of barriers to accessing socially acceptable forms of livelihoods.

• Destitute persons may not only be poor and asset less but stigmatized.

Some Further causes of exclusion.

• Inequitable access to land and resources.

• Skewed delivery of services and inequitable development.development.

• Elite capture of institutions.

• Lack of organisations and collective actions.

• Conflict affect all people around but its impact on poor are very serious.

Poverty and vulnerability of the excluded.

• Poverty.

• Employment.

• Loss of land and forest.• Loss of land and forest.

• Low access to public services.

• Poor health outcome.

• Lagging literacy.

• Poor ownership and access to capital assets.

• Social stigma and discrimination.

• Women.

-Women face double exclusion.

-First due to gender bias norms and

barriers.

-Second due to other social identity.

-Poor health status.

-Stagnant labour force participation –concentrated in labour intensity and unskilled job in informal sector with low wages and high insecurity.sector with low wages and high insecurity.

-Gender based violence.

-Other forms of exploitation.

-Political marginalisation.

-SC/ST women also lack education and health.

-Women with special need.

-Widows are considered as bad omen.

-Many women may not join groups because of social and familial proscription.

-Domestic responsibilities are still consider paramount.

• People with disability:

-People with disability are excluded from school, work place and dependent on other.

-They are less able to generate income for themselves.themselves.

-Poor people with disability are in a vicious circle

-They also face social and psychological barriers.

Occupational groups

Agricultural labourers:

-Agricultural labourers are often most marginalised among the poor.

-Landless and poor asset base are the chief reason why people in rural areas work as agricultural labourers.people in rural areas work as agricultural labourers.

-They are first to be affected by depressed agricultural phases or natural disaster.

-Increase mechanisation has increased their vulnerability.

- Low wages and energy demanding works result in

low level of nutrition and ill health.

- Affected by various occupational hazards.

- Majority of women workers continue to be

agricultural workers even as men migrate to take

up new opportunities.

Hazardous and vulnerability.

• Many people are take up hazardous and vulnerable occupation.

• Brick kiln workers work as bonded labourers.

• Fishing community suffer from fluctuations.

• Artisans suffers from dying traditional trades

Migrants:

• Migrants occur due to decision to seek better

livelihoods.

• Migration due to natural disaster.

• Development induce displacement.

• Migrants are rarely full citizens.

• They often face exclusion.

• When migrants return they lose their access to

natural resources and voices in the community.

Institutional dimension:

• Service delivery institution can cause exclusion of

poor.

• Government institutions and service providers far

too often failed the poor.too often failed the poor.

• Inaccessibility to the key institutions and services

on which poor rely due to the following reasons.

• Poor availability of services.

• Poor affordability of services.

• Social access.

• Poor targeting.

• Poor quality of services.

• Poor infrastructure maintenance and supply.

• Poor capacities of staff.

• Poor governance and accountability.

• Poor supervision and monitoring.

• Complex and time consuming procedure.

• Lack of mechanism for citizen feedback.

• Discrimination.

• Elite capture.

Credit Institutions:

• Formal Credit Institutions – viewed as inaccessible and unfriendly by poor.

• Collateral and security requirements for loans.• Collateral and security requirements for loans.

• Poor often do not have clear title to land.

• Transactions costs in dealing with formal banks.

• Opening of an account- borrowing experiences.

• Inadequacy of loan, rigidity of terms and lack of

timelines.

• Credit for specially disadvantaged groups such as

landless artisans and women is very poor.landless artisans and women is very poor.

PDSProblems in the functioning of PDS:

• Bogus ration card –diversion of food grains.

• Reduced issue of grains to consumers.

• Inability to reach the poor effectively.

• Late lifting of food grains- consumers are not given areas- Leads to diversion.

• FPS are not open daily- long distance.

• Beneficiaries are unaware of their rights- citizens

charter is seldom available.

• Inadequate publicity on the scale of issue, prices

etc.

Health Services:

• Access and affordability are serious concern for

poor.

• Poor resort to private practitioners.

• Go for health care in life threatening situations.

• Slide into indebtedness.

Anganwadi Centres

• Can not accommodate more children.

• Limitation of space.• Limitation of space.

• Worker’s inability.

• Food supplements also are limited in quality.

Educational Institution

• Poor infrastructure , shortage and absenteeism of teachers.

• Girls- low value attached to their school-• Girls- low value attached to their school-opportunity cost.

• Safety after puberty.

• Lack of separate toilet for girls

• Secondary School facilities still remote.

PRIs

• Panchayat members discriminate against those who are not close to them.

• Causes of exclusion – Lack of education, inability to articulate.to articulate.

• Dominant committees use repressive measure to silence the weaker groups.

• Panchayat functions on individual initiatives.

• Absence of transparency.

• Low awareness.

• Social Distance.

• Different nexus with auhority.

• Lack of information and transperancy hampers

participation.

Community – based organizations

Exclusion takes place in following ways

• Membership criteria may be tilted for dominant

groups.

• Low inclusion of women.

• Norms and functioning of the institutions.

• The influence of external groups can lead to

exclusion of the poor

• Authority promotes elites.

• Leadership styles and requirements may exclude

poor.

• Limited capacity of growth and sustainability.

• Low bargaining power.

Development Effort

• Temporarily poor had greater chances of

being selected than chronically poor.

• Improper identification of economic • Improper identification of economic

activities.

• Poor infrastructure and marketing support.

• Lack of understanding the vulnerabilities of

the poorest.

• Identification process not participatory.

• Self Exclusion

• Red tape

• Programmes may focus on women but fail to address gender.

• Choice and type of livelihood activities may alienate • Choice and type of livelihood activities may alienate the poor and suit better- off.

• Membership , norms style of functioning – not pro-poor.

• Monitoring and Evaluation do not tell us the impact on the poorerst and excluded.

Strategies to Address Social Issues

• Selection of Beneficiaries: Effective targetting is a key way to ensure inclusion.

• Some approaches for effective targeting used by • Some approaches for effective targeting used by various projects are :

-Spatial or geographical targeting

-Social group targeting

-Economic or occupation targeting

-A focus on women

Geographical Targeting:

• Targeting areas using human development

indicators.

• Areas with poor infrastructure development• Areas with poor infrastructure development

• Areas prone to disasters.

• Conflict- prone zones

• Innovative Approaches to include Remote areas.

Household or Individual identification

Methods

• BPL lists are not adequate to identify the poor as

many poor families are not included in them.

• Self Targeting:

• Rule –based targeting

• Participatory Identification

Economic and Occupational Targeting

• Landless Labourers.

• People in hazardous occupation such as mines are • People in hazardous occupation such as mines are

vulnerable as their work may take a serious toll on

their health.

• Other occupational vulnerabilities

Focusing on Social Groups and Women

• Dalits and Adivasis

• Women

• Socially invisible groups.

• People affected by HIV/AIDS and other infectious

diseases.

• Household characteristics

Building Institutions of and for the poor

• Self Help Groups.

• Homogeneous Groups

• Intra Group Democracy

• SHGs norms often exclude the pore

• Special Groups

• Strategies for the Ultra poorest of the poor.

Suggestions

• Reach the poor first.

• Participatory assessment to unravel key poverty aspects.aspects.

• Group Formation and development norms.

• Identification by poorest and vulnerable.

• Universal sensitization.

• Market linkages

• Accountability and monitoring of working of • Accountability and monitoring of working of

Banks and their staff.

• Adverse impacts if any on natural resources.

• Role of institutions

State Social and Poverty Assessment

• Identification of pockets of high poverty and vulnerability.

• Identification of most deprived backward groups.• Identification of most deprived backward groups.

• Social, financial and economic exclusion among SC/ST population, minorities, women etc.

• Gender Analysis

• Identification of Institutional Aspects.

• Identification of Situations accentuating

exclusion.exclusion.

• Specific thematic consultations