By: Mohan Das Manandhar Rojan Bajracharya

Kathmandu, Nepal: Current South Asia is one of the evolving giant of world’s political economic circuit. Specifically growth of India in last three decades - is not only surprising; economists often argue as ever experienced economic progress. The prediction is that the region has immense natural and human resource to exploit in order to maintain current growth rate and evolve largest economic region in next half century.  Small economies of the region – like Nepal and Bhutan - also have enough room to take benefit from geographical proximity of region’s growth. So, inter- regional labor flow is gradually being observed in the region and inter regional FDI is also gradually galloping. Thanks to major economic policy shift in South Asian economies – specifically from close/ controlled to open/ liberalized economy – which credit overall economic growth in the region in last few decades.

Nevertheless, the region has dearth to transform its growth into equitable human development progress. Young political family member of Indian National Congress, Rahul Gandhi, very often says there are two India – one is progressing with milestone goal and other still thrives for single day meal. Despite huge economic progress, the region has to accept the contemporary facts that South Asia is the house to world largest poor population and there is immense disparity in living standard of rich and poor. Adopting conflict expert’s word disparity between rich and poor give birth to conflict in the region. So the contemporary challenge for South Asia is to identify the reason behind inequitable growth. In further days, it is hoped that academic effort of the region will be devoted to explore why certain sect of populace are being leftout from country’s overall economic progress and how such population sect can be encompass in the development mainstream.

There are immense literatures on inequity and deprivation in South Asia and the literatures have two contrasting arguments on explaining the reasons behind inequity and deprivation. One group argue that the growth model of Asia has created economic classes – viz. laborer and entrepreneur – as evolved in Europe in various phase of economic revolution and their discourse is to minimize the disparity in allocating benefit to both of these classes and advocate for equitable distribution of resource. So, in late nineties, the concept of inclusive growth model has evolved which defend to measure not only macro economic growth but equitable distribution of growth between various economic classes.

On the other hand, social exclusion is one of the evolving discourses in Asia and this practice is prevalent in social and political affair of the region since ancient past with undue influence in state structure. Social exclusion and discrimination exist in various forms in the world, namely: racial, caste, ethnic, spatial and others. Specifically, the caste and ethnic based social exclusion that persist in South Asia can be seen as an institution that has been structuring and maintaining for centuries relations of power among different communities. Development approaches defined in the nexus of Investment Gap, Human Development and Poverty focuses on steady growth and equitable distribution of income without considering social cultural structure of country so is invite inequity and injustice. The development practices that exclude an individual and/or a community and society from the mainstream process give birth to inequity and disparity so the century old social exclusionary practice prevailed in the contemporary world is the stumbling block against the equitable development. UNDP’s Human Resource Development 1997 highlighted social exclusion and discrimination as the leading causes of the unequal development and wealth disparity, Specifically, the suppressed groups who are in the stage of extreme poverty and grievances are the vulnerable populace and are leading cause of making an unequal state.

In most South Asian countries, it was Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan (PRSP) to address social equity with overarching emphasis on poverty reduction and most of countries have adopted MDGs approach to equitable delivery of social services, reduction of poverty and social justice.  Unfortunately, none Asia countries other than Nepal has participatory involvement approach in designing PRSP of respective county. Further, MDGs also only consider gender dimension of social parity with all other form of social inclusion beyond it’s reach.  So, many of indigenous and ethnic peoples who are most excluded in social affairs are also excluded from major policy relevance. 

A socially exclusive society bars excluded and suppressed groups’ voice from being public. In such society, sometime even media– independent state units to raise public voice – get indulged and failed to give proper access to excluded and suppressed communities. So, grievance and demand of these communities might not be well channeled to state ruler and/or policy makers which will lead to create exclusive state policy. Many South Asia economies brought out reservation and affirmative action as policy measure to enhance the access of suppressed and excluded in basic service. However, excluded groups like Dalits have fear to enroll in school because social prospect of untouchability won’t allow them to attend class along with other student. Further, indigenous with minority tongue won’t find his class encouraging if he is compelled to read in another language. So beside reservation, it would have been better if education policy create conducive school environment to enhance the participation of Dalit and bring out mother tongue education to encourage minority language speakers to get formal education.

Beside economic deprivation, social inclusive should also be one of the guiding principal to design policy measures. State policy should recognize socially excluded group as one of state and social organ and protect the rights of excluded groups. This will be the basis to promote policy measure for social equity and justice of excluded group via affirmative action of preferential treatment to excluded groups, representation of excluded groups in the state affairs, redistribution of resource for easy access to social groups, targeted programmes on basic social services delivery to excluded group and advocacy programmes include civil society involvement in tackling discrimination and promotion of social inclusive society.

South Asia needs to recognize existence of social exclusion in societies and should revise its methodology to analyze poverty, identify deprived and recognize injustice. So far, there is only concept of Inclusive Growth to evaluate macro level policy impact on social deprivation. However, the concept of inclusive growth is equipped only to explain disparity in economic and it should be revised with concept of socially inclusive Budgeting and Auditing and Inclusive Distribution of Service. This allows allocating the state resource in line with social construct of country and guide to design other inclusive policies. One of the formidable policy moves will be affirmative action for reservation which implies special consideration to deprived and suppressed communities in state’s competitive administrative structure and other related organization. 

The socially excluded groups are diverse and/ or small in size so there is dearth to channel their demand in state structure. It is only few advocacy groups who are working for these socially excluded to deliver their demand but a state mechanism should be developed to make such demand more authentic and politically influential.