The Invisible

Sridhar while surveying the community for a hygiene program asks Ramesh, a local fruit seller, “kya bolte ho nayi Sarkar ke baare mein” (what is your view on the new government?) Ramesh laughs and answers “sir, hamari kise padi hain” (sir who bother about us). On another day, Iqbal, a daily wager is hardly bothered who is representing his constituency. The only thing that bothers him is to ensure two meals per day for his family. 

Ramesh and Husain both represents the “invisible” section of the society. These people are rarely talked about, hardly discussed on media channels, does not play any role in designing government strategies and are mostly non-taxpayer. They are meant to provide support services to the visible section and ensure smooth running of the civilized society. Some of the people forming this invisible section are maids, sewage cleaner, fruit/vegetable sellers on street, daily wagers like masons, painters, rickshaw pullers, car cleaners, local plumber, cobblers, local taxi drivers, garbage pickers etc. We cannot ignore their contribution in maintaining the equilibrium in our lives, but we do not consider them the part of society. Most of the times these people are living near to our homes, concentrated within an area with limited infrastructure, below average living conditions and suffer discrimination. Their kids often go to government schools or schools run by social organizations. Most of the times these people find it difficult to break their legacy profession and end up doing similar kind of work for years. This section of people is referred as invisible, because nobody is bothered of their living conditions, their prosperity, health and their rights. Even the media, which is called the fourth pillar of democracy, turn their back to their issues as their stories are not spicy enough to create buzz.

The government bodies do not find motivation in visiting these communities as most of the inhabitants are migrants and may not cast their vote in elections. But these are the people who are most impacted when the charges of the vegetables increase, when the water from municipality tap is contaminated, when there are potholes in the community, when there is a dengue or malaria epidemic, when there is corruption in ration distribution etc.. As a volunteer of SNEH Foundation when I visited one of the urban slums in Gurgaon, I saw kids going 300 meters to fetch drinking water as municipality taps are dried up. These people are mostly living in small houses and in a very densely populated area prone to diseases.

This invisible section of society feels neglected, isolated from the other sections of the society. There may be multiple reasons for it, few are discussed below:

• Economic disparity: This can be the biggest reason which makes this section of community invisible. Due to the gap in economic standard, they are hesitant to raise their voice, suffers exploitation and are prone to crime. Economic disparity is a result of a vicious circle where these people stick to low paying jobs, earn less, not able to provide quality education to their children who in turn also stick to similar services. Income inequality is a curse on any country and our India may top this list among developing BRICS nations. The rise of billionaires does not only signify that we are developing, it may also indicate an increasing trend of economic disparity. The kids of these people study in low profile schools compared to the decorated schools of elite class and feel a sense of inferiority complex if they are studying with them. A wonderful example is study on RTE (Right to education) sustainability. RTE ensures that 25% of the seats in all schools are reserved for kids from economically marginalized families (EWS). Once these kids start studying with the kids from rich families, they start feeling discomfort due to different reasons and eventually leave the school. Looking into the history of Maoists and Naxalites, it is evident that economic disparity can motivate people to take up violence and make their presence felt.
  We always read in newspapers about wealth inequality in India and how a small percentage of rich people have majority of country’s wealth. This gap widens every year and is not doing any good to us. Visionaries like Dr B.R. Ambedkar highlighted the issues of economic inequality at the time when constitution was written but we still seem to face it and more people are becoming invisible because of their economic standards. 

• Social/Cultural disparity: This refers to categorizing people based on their social status like caste, gender based specially transgenders, family background e.g. children of prostitutes, criminal background, unwed mothers, moral policing e.g. marrying a different religion, ethnicity, language etc. Social disparity makes people feel invisible in community. There are still lot of villages in India where people belonging to lower caste are invisible compared to higher caste people. They may have equal rights as per government norms but suffers lot of inequality based on their caste or religion. Transgenders community has always felt isolated from the rest of the community and most of the times the policy makers will consider them invisible when drafting a welfare policy. Kids born out of prostitution suffer neglect and exploitation and have lower access to government provided resources and benefits. This section of people suffers social isolation and may take up illegal activities if intervention is not provided at right time.

• Physical/Mental Disparity: This refers to the disparity suffered by physical or mentally ill people left alone by their family members. This disparity has been decreasing with time but still you may find people left in solidarity due to their mental illness or physical disability. It becomes difficult for these people to get their visibility back. There have been lot of organization working for these people so condition may improve in future.
  

The invisible section of the society may not have access to affordable health care services, quality education, clean water supply, insurance cover and other state or national benefits. But life comes to halt if they stop working or go on strike. People will remember the state of their city when sewage cleaners and waste collectors go on strike due to demand of high compensation. It is a matter of study that why this gap is broadening day by day in our country. Few of the reasons are listed below:

• Government policies: Since independence, Indian government have been giving reservations to people belonging to few castes but there has not been much introspection if the purpose is fulfilled. Considering the current state of our country, giving reservation on income basis or based on availability of resources may yield better result. A person belonging to an underprivileged caste may have made his mark in society and his kids are visible and capable enough to achieve success without any reservations. In this case, people of high caste with marginal economic condition should be given priority over social status. Also, a considerable section of people is left out or ignored when planning for some new strategy or policies. 
  
  
• Divide and rule: State governments can be accused of playing divide and rule with citizens making a section of people more visible than others. In this case, the section of people not casting their vote are invisible e.g. a community in the city consisting of migratory population which will not cast their vote in local elections. Most of times these people are working as maid or at daily wage jobs. The government officials are least bothered about the living conditions in their areas without realizing their contribution in maintaining the balance of the society.
  
  
• Psychological Blockage: It is observed that these people have some psychological blockages in their mind which restricts them to take up different jobs and they stick to their legacy jobs. Their ancestors have suffered social exclusion and they have accepted it as their fate as well. Other people’s acceptance of supremacy and capitalist mindset makes the things worse in this case.
  
  
• Caste System: This has been prevalent in our society since ages and although it has been fading away but still causes lot of disparity among people. In number of communities, people of low caste are invisible in front of higher castes. Incidences of violence against the lower caste people has been on decline but not totally eradicated. The fact that I am writing “higher” caste and “lower” caste itself signifies that we have created a very strong division among ourselves. This divide is forced upon most of the times but sometimes it is done intentionally for political gain.
  
  
• Religion Dominance: When religion starts dominating over humanity, the people of other religion becomes invisible. This has been a very big problem for our country as high number of the decisions, strategies and policies are designed considering the religion of the beneficiaries. This is due to this disparity that term called “religion minorities” is used in most of the developing countries.
  
  
• Capitalism: It is an economic framework where majority of country’s trade, commercial projects, industries are managed and controlled by private companies or individuals. In this state, the owners may not give equal economic benefits to all the employees leading to economic disparity. This may be intentionally done to keep the labour, workers underdeveloped. No country can survive without capital and privatization, but a right balance may lead to better distribution of the money. For e.g. consider the below scenarios and analyse which one can be more fruitful for the nation:

o   A firm earns profit of 1000 crores and the board of directors becomes rich by 100 crores each and gave Rs.1000/- per month increment to employees.

o   A firm earns profit of 1000 crores and the BOD becomes rich by 50 crores each and gave Rs.5000/- per month increment to employees.

We as one of the largest countries in the world need to consider each citizen equal and consider the impact of any policies, strategy on all the sections of the society. A policy benefiting only a section of people and neglecting the others may not bring fruitful results. Sometimes, it becomes necessary to do something for a specific community for political gain, but in these cases the impact should be analysed on other sections also and proper trade off should be implemented.

If we realize it now and works to eradicate these disparities, we can hope for the day when nobody irrespective of their profession, caste, religion, color, status will be “invisible”. 

Regards

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