Can Economic Growth and Justice Grow Hand in hand?

Growth and Justice

Can Economic Growth and Justice Grow Hand in hand?

 

Introduction
  • Withdrawal of lateral entry to civil services a victory for social justice.

Or

  • There were no Scheduled Caste (SC) or Scheduled Tribe (ST) officers among the 20 who assisted in framing 2024 Budget proposals.

Or

  • In India, 5% own more than 60% of country’s wealth.  Total number of billionaires in India increased from 102 in 2020 to 166 billionaires: Oxfam report
What is justice: 1.     In ancient Indian society Justice was associated with dharma and maintaining dharma or a just social order, was considered to be a primary duty of kings.

2.     In China, Confucius argued that kings should maintain justice by punishing wrong doers and rewarding the virtuous.

3.     In Ancient Greece – Justice involves giving each person his due. (Plato)

4.     Justice implies doing good to our friends and harm to our enemies, or pursuing our own interests.

5.     Justice also means the well-being of all people. Just as a doctor is concerned with the well-being of his/her patients, similarly the just ruler or the just government must be concerned with the well-being of the people.

Principles of justice:

1.     Justice as dignity

2.     Justice as equal treatment for equals

3.     Principle of proportionate justice

4.     Justice as recognition of special needs 

Principle 1:

Justice as dignity:

1.     It gives opportunity to develop ones own talent

2.     It helps them to pursue their goals.

Principle 2:

Equal Treatment for Equals

 

As human beings, people deserve equal rights and equal treatment.

Example:

1.     Civil Rights of –

a.      Life

b.     Liberty

c.      Property

2.     Political rights like the right to vote

3.     Social rights like right to equality.

Components of the principle of treating equals equally:

1.     Absence of discrimination.

2.     Judging people on the basis of their work and actions not their community

3.     Equal pay for equal work

Principle 3:

Proportionate Justice

 

Equal treatment may create feeling of injustice.

Example:

Expecting all students in a class to get equal marks is not fair.

So it is asserted that –

Justice in such cases means –

1.     Everybody starts from the same base line of equal rights

2.     Rewarding people in proportion to the scale and quality of their effort.

è So, for justice in society, the principle of equal treatment needs to be balanced with the principle of proportionality.

Principle 4:

Recognition of Special Needs

 

  • A society has to take into account special needs of people while distributing rewards or duties.
  • Equal treatment is justice. But non- discrimination is not a guaranty of justice.
  • Hence certain level of positive discrimination is necessary.

Example: 

a.      Persons with disabilities

b.     Socially and educationally backward

c.      Economically weaker sections

d.     Senior citizens

  • Maintaining a brutal equality will only create an unequal society.
  • It is a function of governments to harmonise the different principles to promote a just society.
So, Social justice require

 

1.     People be treated equally in terms of the laws and policies of the society

2.     Basic equality of life conditions and opportunities.

Example:

1.     Abolition of untouchability

2.     Abolition of bonded labour

3.     Abolition of child labour

4.     Protecting the rights of the minorities.

5.     Land reforms.

6.     Important resources like education, health, shelter, etc., should be made available to all persons.

Who should do this? 1.     Government

2.     Society

3.     Market (Corporate sector | Private sector)

4.     NGOs

5.     Family

6.     Individual

Individual efforts Social justice undertaken by the individuals is treated as heroism and godliness.

Therefore people worship–

a.      Robinhood

b.     Kondapalli Sita Ramaiah

c.      Tiger Nageshwar Rao

This is not good for the society 1.      Robin hood morality is not legal.

2.      It is a failure of –

a.      Rule of law

b.     Criminal justice system

c.      It creates a parallel government.

Social justice can not exist:

 

Social justice in a society does not exist in the society if there are differences between –

1.     Rich and poor

2.     Powerful and powerless

3.     Included and Excluded

The nature of just society

 

1.     Provide people with the basic minimum conditions

2.     Enabling the people to live healthy

3.     Security of life

4.     Develop their talents

5.     Equal opportunities to pursue their chosen goals in society.

6.     Social security

Basic needs to be provided

 

1.     Nutritious food

2.     Health

3.     Housing

4.     Clean drinking water

5.     Education

6.     Minimum wages

Basic facilities by the state: 1.     To ensure social justice the state should step in to see that basic facilities are made available to all the members of a society.

2.     In a democratic society disagreements about issues of distribution and justice are inevitable and even healthy because they force us to examine different points of view and rationally defend our own views.

3.     Politics is about the negotiation of such disagreements through debate.

4.     In our own country many kinds of social and economic inequalities exist and much remains to be done if they are to be reduced.

Requirements of Social justice
  1. People be treated equally
  2. Basic equality of life conditions and opportunities.
  3. Abolition of untouchability
  4. Abolition of bonded labour
  5. Abolition of child labour
  6. Protecting the rights of the minorities.
  7. Land reforms
if justice is not ensured, result will be conflicts:
  1. Left Wing Extremism
  2. Terrorism
  3. Land Related Issues
  4. Water Related Issues
  5. Issues Related to Scheduled Castes
  6. Issues Related to Scheduled Tribes
  7. Issues Related to Other Backward Classes
  8. Religious Conflicts
  9. Regional Disparities
  10. Conflicts in the North East
Elements of development
Improving the capital 1. Material goods

2. Natural resources

3. Human capital

4. Social capital

People oriented 1. Gender sensitive

2. Human rights protective

3. Self Reliant

4. Demand driven

5. Think local – act global

GYAN pe Dhyan
  1. Garib (Poor people oriented)
  2. Yuva (Youth oriented)
  3. Anna data (Farmer oriented)
  4. Nari shakti (Women centric)
Development should eliminate
  1. Unemployment
  2. Tyranny
  3. Poverty
  4. Social inequality
  5. Intolerance
  6. Repressive nature of the state
  7. Gender discrimination
Conclusion  To ensure growth with justice, the development should be people centric.

 

 

 

 

Case studies

Shiv Nadar, HCL Group •        Top philanthropist in India

•        Edel Give Hurun India Philanthropy List 2023

•        Donated INR 2,042 crore for the fiscal year 2022-23.

Kolla Chinnalamma 75

Participative Development

1.     Built Check dam with people’s participation

2.     supported by Government

3.     The dam can support 100 acres of land

4.     Kimudupalli village, Paderu

Mayur Kandhar: Development is sharing: 1.     Mayur operates Food Truck

2.     He provides free food in Ahmedabad

3.     Menu includes Roti, sweets, curries and ice cream

4.     Feeds 400 people every day.

Prabhas Surya,

Development with dignity

  • Daddy Foundation in Srikakulam
  • Operates Food bank People need not stand que to receive free food.
  • Food kept in a grilled almairah.
  • People picks the food packets.
Parminder Singh in Gurdaspur:

Development should be sustainable 

  • Stubble burning is replaced with stubble used for Tiles making.
  • The tiles are recyclable.
  • The tiles can with stand heat up to 2500 centigrade.

 

 

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