What are the main challenges to achieving equity?

Achieving equity in India isn’t about giving everyone the same resources—it’s about ensuring everyone gets what they need to thrive. Imagine two students: one in a Mumbai high-rise with a laptop and another in a Bihar village without textbooks. The gaps between them aren’t just about money—they’re about caste, gender, location, and systemic biases. Let’s explore why bridging these gaps feels like an uphill battle and what might help.

Main hurdles to achieving equity in India

1. Income inequality: The great divide

India’s wealth gap is staggering. The top 1% own nearly half the nation’s wealth, while the poorest half survive on less than Rs. 150 a day. This divide shapes lives:

Education: Elite schools offer robotics labs; village schools lack blackboards. Healthcare: Private hospitals charge Rs. 5,000 for a test; government clinics run out of paracetamol. Jobs: Urban youth land internships; rural teens migrate as construction labour.

Why it’s tough to fix: Poverty is cyclical. A rickshaw driver’s son can’t afford coaching for entrance exams, so he becomes a driver too.

What might work:

Link MNREGA wages to inflation so daily earners aren’t stuck with Rs. 250/day. Tax luxury goods more to fund free skill programs (plumbing, nursing, solar tech). Push corporations to hire locally, not just from cities.

2. Caste discrimination: The hidden wall

Caste isn’t just a rural issue—it follows kids to classrooms and adults to offices. Dalit students face subtle slurs: segregated seating and skipped names during roll calls. In corporate hubs, upper-caste networks dominate hiring. Even today, less than 10% of India’s top company CEOs are Dalit or Adivasi.

Why it’s tough to fix: Deep-rooted biases don’t vanish with laws. It takes concerted efforts and major systemic changes to weed out discrimination.

What might work:

Mandate caste sensitisation workshops in colleges and offices. Expand SC/ST quotas to private sectors like tech and banking. Celebrate Dalit icons like Savitribai Phule in school textbooks.

3. Gender gaps: More than just equal pay

Women face layered barriers:

Education: Village girls drop out at puberty due to no toilets or safety fears. Work: Office jobs demand late hours, which can pose a challenge. Safety: Fear of harassment keeps many from taking public transport.

Why it’s tough to fix: Families still prioritise their son’s education.

What might work:

Free bus passes and hostels for college-going girls. Subsidise creches near factories and offices. Reserve 33% of police jobs for women to improve safety responses.

4. Rural vs. urban: Two worlds, one country

Cities get metros and malls; villages lack roads and doctors. Farmers earn Rs. 6,000/month, while IT freshers start at Rs. 50,000. Government schemes like PM-Kisan (Rs. 6,000/year) barely cover seed costs.

Why it’s tough to fix: Corruption eats up funds.

What might work:

Boost rural healthcare with mobile clinics staffed by local nurses. Turn MNREGA into a skilled labour program (training masons, electricians). Use AI for crop price alerts via SMS (no internet needed).

5. Education inequity: Broken promises

Private schools teach coding; government schools lack benches. English-medium schools trap rural kids in a language they don’t grasp. Dropouts spike after Class 10 as teens work in fields or factories.

Why it’s tough to fix: Teachers in various government schools handle 80 kids alone, making it difficult to provide quality education.

What might work:

Double teacher hiring and training them in regional languages. Free tablets preloaded with offline lessons (maths, science). Mid-day meals till Class 12 to keep teens in school.

6. Healthcare access: Pay or suffer

Private hospitals charge Rs. 10,000 for a dengue test; government hospitals lack basics. Rural patients travel 50 km for an X-ray. Mental health? A luxury few understand.

Why it’s tough to fix: Doctors avoid village postings. A PHC in villages runs without a doctor—just a pharmacist handing out painkillers.

What might work:

Triple funding for rural clinics and reward doctors serving there. Train ASHA workers to spot depression and anxiety. Cap prices of 100 critical drugs, not just 20.

7. Digital divide: Offline in an online era

Only 1 in 3 villagers use the internet. Online classes? A myth for many. Farmers can’t check crop prices; teens miss online job forms.

Why it’s tough to fix: A smartphone costs Rs. 7,000—half a labourer’s monthly wage.

What might work:

Free Wi-Fi at panchayat offices and schools. Tech tools with voice commands for illiterate users. Subsidised data packs for students.

How NBFCs are changing rural credit

Non-banking financial companies are stepping in where banks won’t. NBFCs work because they trust locals, not paperwork. These institutions offer micro loans to the underprivileged, allowing them to purchase items required to start their own small businesses. The default rates also go down as these individuals ensure they repay the amount and avoid defaults.

Online marketplaces—hope and hurdles

Digital platforms let artisans sell nationwide. However, there are certain challenges that must be addressed, including:

Digital literacy Shipping costs

Considering they eliminate the middlemen, digital platforms offer an excellent solution to small businesses and budding entrepreneurs from small towns and villages.

Steps forward: Start small, think local

Community audits: Villagers track scheme funds via WhatsApp groups. Tech tutors: College students teach elders to use UPI. Flexible policies: Let states design their own health/education plans.

Final thoughts

Equity isn’t about giant leaps—it’s about fixing cracks in the system. While NBFCs and online marketplaces help, India needs empathy, not just policies. Equity is when the sons and daughters can become what their parents couldn’t. With patient and concerted efforts, we can soon realise the dream of equity and equal opportunities for all in the country.