Scheme-ing India
812 million! What’s that, you wonder? That is the number of Indian citizens who live below poverty line, according to The Business Standard’s article. While the privileged percentage of us scroll through the “gram” & bask in the glory of our lifestyles, 60 per cent of our country struggles to gain access to basic necessities like proper education, healthcare insurance, pensions & other facilities that allow for an empowered life. The reality is bleak & with unemployment on the rise, change is more than a stone’s throw away.
But of course our government hasn’t been idle. Welfare Schemes were announced and deployed to address the various issues – including direct benefit transfers for certain sections of the population among other services. These schemes are run by the Central Government, State Government or as collaborations between the Centre & the States. There are currently over 70 active welfare schemes in India. Here’s a list of them: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_schemes_of_the_government_of_India
“So if there are these many schemes, why are many people still struggling?”
Despite efforts in creating awareness (through print, online media, radio & TV), most schemes are often beyond the reach of those who need them the most i.e., the Indian citizen with lack of access to information. For example, in Karnataka, although $735 million was allotted as welfare scheme for workers, only 2.44 per cent of it was used owing to the lack of awareness of such programs. Recently, the State Economic Survey that was presented in the Assembly stated that the funds allocated for schemes meant to benefit Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) remained largely unutilized in the fiscal year of 2020-2021. “Barely 19% and 25% funds were spent up to January 2021 under State and district-level schemes for SCs and STs respectively” states The Hindu. This is the fate across most Indian states – the information deficit is far too high despite the number of schemes that exist!
Common Service Centres were established as a way to provide information to the public about the availability of central & state government schemes and services. However, this data is often fragmented and does not provide information on all the schemes that can be availed. While most of this data can be sought on the internet, the lack of technological know-how makes it hard to navigate through the intricate details. (Despite having the second largest online market in the world India 55 per cent of Indians don’t have access to the internet and even with 45 per cent accessing it, millions of them are connecting to an internet they can’t use!)
While we may have fairly progressed with ‘Digital India’ in play, technological understanding is not the only barrier here. Without financial literacy, citizens aren’t equipped to take the right decisions to navigate through the processes.
“According to an accredited financial literacy survey, traditionally, India hovers at around 24 per cent in financial literacy rates – which compared to 55 per cent in developed countries, is woefully inadequate”, stated The Financial Express.
India has made many efforts to make financial inclusion successful – healthcare is one of the important schemes to consider communicating as every individual undergoes health expenditure regardless of the size of their income. (Financial Inclusion is the means to access useful & affordable financial services at affordable costs to the marginalized & weaker sections of the society) According to a study by Ishrat Rasool, many experts agree that private insurance is not conducive to India’s conditions – by increasing awareness on the schemes available, many individuals will be benefitted.
“How can I help address this knowledge gap?”
Access to Information is every citizen’s fundamental right & each one of us must know their entitlements. Tribes for GOOD is delving into an extensive research where the students registered under their Changemakers program will gather information on the available Central & State government health welfare schemes, their respective eligibility criteria and benefits. The program is set to start in the month of June and will eventually address the rural public in urban India through various communication channels.
If you would like to help Tribes for GOOD with their research, write & apply to be a Changemaker today!