Social Policy (Education, Ageing, Identity)

Material inequalities in India continue to be denied the attention it deserves. When it is addressed the meanings of inequality are diluted such that the responsibilities of policy makers rarely extend beyond ensuring a floor minimum of basic needs. Consequently, while the formerly indigent sections experience marginal improvements in living standards, the rate of concentration of wealth continues unchecked. The piling evidence of rising inequalities fuelling resentments that can be destabilizing for societies remains ignored in policy circles.
The Centre for Policy Studies intends to raise inequality as a central issue in policy dialogues in India. In addition to the problem of unethical variation in access to basic needs in unequal societies, material inequality in India is made more resilient by the membership in overlapping categories – gender, caste, religion, urban/rural, sexuality, age, and political affiliation.