Types of Inclusion

Social Inclusionm

Social inclusion is more than the reduction of poverty and inequality. It is about opportunity and voice and comprises political accountability, political, civil and human rights, and access to public and private goods, all issues that contribute to an individual’s capacity for a safe, productive life as a fully integrated member of the society, the economy and the political system—without regard to race, ethnicity, gender, physical or mental disability, or sexual orientation.

Financial Inclusion

“Financial inclusion may be defined as the process of ensuring access to financial services and timely and adequate credit where needed by vulnerable groups such as weaker sections and low income groups at an affordable cost” --Dr. C. Rangarajan

“Financial Inclusion, broadly defined, refers to universal access to a wide range of financial services at a reasonable cost. These include not only banking products but also other financial services such as insurance and equity products” -- Dr. Raghuram G. Rajan

Relevant Constitutional Provision for Social Inclusion

  • Article 38: State to secure a social order for the promotion of welfare of the people
  • Article 41: Right to work, to education and to public assistance in certain cases
  • Article 46: Promotion of educational and economic interests of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other weaker sections
  • Article 47: Duty of the State to raise the level of nutrition and the standard of living and to improve public health

Gender Inclusion

Gender inequality remains a major barrier to human development. The disadvantages facing women and girls are a major source of inequality. All too often, women and girls are discriminated against in health, education, political representation, labour market, etc. — with negative repercussions for development of their capabilities and their freedom of choice.

Technologies & Inclusion

Greater use of knowledge and technology is key to meet the challenges of economic growth and improve the plight of people at bottom of pyramid. India has the ability to take leadership position in the world in the next few decades by evolving into a knowledge society and finding innovative solutions to socio-economic challenges and it is an idea whose time has come.

Poverty & Inclusion

Economic growth is the most powerful instrument for reducing poverty and improving the quality of life in developing countries. Both cross-country research and country case studies provide overwhelming evidence that rapid and sustained growth is critical to making faster progress towards the Millennium Development Goals – and not just the first goal of halving the global proportion of people living on less than $1 a day.

Key Elements of Inclusive Growth

Inclusive growth is a distinct concept from standard economic growth. Inclusive growth should:

  • Have broader objectives than increasing income and GDP; to achieve inclusive growth, governments need to proactively work to achieve those objectives, rather than assuming that positive outcomes will automatically come through growth
  • Translate into Human development and increased well-being
  • Benefit all groups, including the most marginalised
  • Reduce poverty and inequality
  • Consider participation, not just distribution outcomes and therefore focus on increasing active participation in the economy and a say in how the economy is run
  • Promote the sustainable use of natural resources and climate protection.

However, increased growth has also led to increasing inequality in some countries. Both China and India have seen widening inequality as their growth rates picked up over the 1990s.

Regional Inclusion

Disparities in economic and social development across the regions and intra-regional disparities among different segments of the society have been the major planks for adopting planning process in India since independence.Apart from massive investments in backward regions, various public policies directed at encouraging private investments in such regions have been pursued by the Government. While efforts to reduce regional disparities were not lacking, achievements were not often commensurate with these efforts.Considerable level of regional disparities still remains.

Educational Inclusion

Inclusive education should be viewed in terms of including traditionally excluded or marginalized groups or making the invisible visible. The most marginalized groups are often invisible in society: disabled children, girls, children in remote villages, and the very poor. These invisible groups are excluded from governmental policy and access to education.

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