Why in news?
Indian Exclusion Report (IXR) is released by the Centre for Equity Studies (CES) in New Delhi.
What is IXR about?
- The 2016 IXR Report determines exclusion by taking into account four public goods, namely, pensions for the elderly, digital access, agricultural land, and legal justice for under trials.
- In its 2016 report, it has found out that the same historically disadvantaged groups such as Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, and persons with disabilities and age-related vulnerabilities continue to remain as the most severely and consistently excluded groups of the society.
- It also profiles four highly vulnerable groups in terms of their access to these goods.
What does the report say on agricultural lands?
- The dominant finding of this report is that the groups most severely and consistently excluded are Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, and persons with disabilities and age-related vulnerabilities.
- On the provision of agricultural land as a public good, the IXR found that the pattern of land distribution broadly reflects the socio-economic hierarchy.
- The rate of landlessness was highest among Dalits, at 57.3%. Among Muslims, it was 52.6%, and 56.8% of women-headed households were landless.
- Around 40% of all those displaced by “development activity” were Adivasis.
- Where Dalits, Muslims and women owned land, the holdings were meagre in size, with only 2.08% of Dalit households owning more than two hectares of land.
- Also, the quality of land owned by Dalits was very poor, with 58% of it having no irrigation facility.
- Land reform efforts have not benefited Dalits, women or Muslims significantly, according to the IXR.
- Land allotments to SC/ST households were often only on paper, as allottees were forcefully evicted or not allowed to take possession, noted the report.
What does the report say on IT access?
- Poverty and geographic location were the two major barriers to digital access, with urban locations enjoying better Internet penetration rates.
- Government initiatives to improve IT access have been riddled with implementation problems and poor cooperation from government officials.
- The report warned that in the new thrust towards a cashless economy, digital exclusion can often also result in financial exclusion.
- The IXR also noted with disapproval India’s refusal to be a signatory to a non-binding UN Human Rights Council resolution to protect human rights on the Internet.
Source: The Hindu