Articles
Inequality, Poverty and Population
Dt:24/1/23
Inequality, Poverty and Population
Dr T H Chowdary *
In the article, “ Looking Beyond Business” (Bhavan’s Journal Nov 30, 2022) figures showing how the wealth of nations is increasingly getting into the hands of lesser percent of the population indicating expanding inequality. Poverty has been a permanent phenomenon since the beginning of civilization. In Bharat the poor are even deified as a word “Daridra Narayan” indicates . Jesus Christ preached that “the poor will inherit the earth” and the well to do should pay tithe. Prophet Mohammad prescribed zakats contribution to relive the poor. A Nobel prize winning scientist while explaining the radio noise, theorised that “noise”, like the poor, will always be with us in radio signals “. In nations with free, liberal economic regimes the well educated and talented become wealthier faster than the rest . The less educated, less talented from the already poor families , especially with far more children that the well -to -do , will also have increasing incomes that a welfare state enables ; their incomes rise slower that those of the talented thus increasing inequality. A welfare state like India strives to enable the poor to live in painless poverty by giving more and more free- bees with every general election.
2. Unchecked population growth seriously militates against poverty reduction and employment provision. Many in so called forward castes and the rich have one child , give the child best education in costly “ international” or that level schools within India and abroad. So those families become entrepreneurial and affluent, garnering a huge fraction of nation’s wealth . The possible revolt of the poor is prevented by “ painless poverty schemes” of welfare like food security - more than 800 mln people in India are given 10 items free; increasing number of poor house- holds are given free electricity, water, ; mlns of poor old people get pensions….
3. Poverty can be reduced and inequality can be controlled only by a National Population Policy under which family size is controlled by statute and the norm revised as economic prosperous and such growing economy sustained by enough number of working age people.
China’s emergence as the world’s second largest economy , growing to be number one soon, is mainly due to its population policy linking with economy and aspiration. It enforces one- child norm from the mid- 1970s until 2002; then it prescribed two children per family until 2020 and now it wants every family to have 3 children so that it has enough number of working age people to sustain China as the world’s largest economy.
4. It is apt to recall Dr B.R Ambedkar’s position in regard to poverty & population as spelt out in the 1952 Election Manifesto of the Schedule Caste Federation of which he was the President. He held that poverty and population are two aspects of eth same problem. The Manifesto reads:
Para - 9 : “The problem of poverty is thus a double edged problem . From one point of view, it is a problem of more production both in agriculture and industry. From another point of view, it is a problem of controlling the excessive growth of population; both sides are equally important. SCF proposes to fight battle against poverty on both fronts”.
Para-10 : “For the purpose of reducing population, it would advocate an intensive propaganda in favour of birth control among the people. It will advocate the opening of birth control clinics in different parts of the country. It regards the growing rate in the increase of population in the country so grave and an evil that it would not hesitate to advocate more drasting methods of controlling it". (Source: The book, Ambedkar: An Economist Extraordinaire by Narendra Jadav, Konark Publishes Pvt Ltd., New Delhi, Seattle 2015)
5. Deng Tsio Ping, the Chinese liberalizer famously said, “ that some people have to become rich before the poor can be uplifted” . In the third week of Jan 2023 India’s population overtook China’s whose economy and per capita income are more than five times those of India. China’s population started reducing now while that of ours especially among the poor and Muslims is increasing. So property and inequality are not getting reduced . It is grievous that apparently intelligent journalists and vote-hunting populist politicians are not speaking and writing about our unchecked growth in our population as if to be politically correct and as a taboo . The least objectionable way we enforce one or two child norm can be on the ground that our as yet poor country can implement welfare programs for poor families with one-child only. Unless we address the population problem, poverty, unemployment and inequality cannot be mitigated. (780 words)
END