EQUITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT
Leafing through the World Development Report 2006, it raked
up issues in my mind.
Economic Development means increase in the country’s GDP
along with increase in the citizen’s quality of life, that is measured with the
H.D.I.
H.D.I is Human Development Index , a statistic composite index
of life expectancy,education and per capita income indicators which are used to
rank countries .
In short any development that is planned in an economy
should have the well being of the people at large.
Why does equity and well being matter?
The concern of any authority should be development with Equity.
Equity is so pervasive across cultures. The philosophical traditions suggests that a fundamental
preference for fairness is deeply rooted in human beings. Complementing this
evidence are data from Opinion Surveys ,suggesting that higher inequalities in
incomes is on an average is associated with lower aggregate levels of
subjective well being.
Perhaps the oldest manifestations of concern with equity and
the avoidance of deprivation comes from religion. Several major world religions
endorse the notion of social justice and
a duty towards the poor. In general,it
has been found all cultures and religions share a concern with equity and
fairness.
Self interest is the most prominent underlying emotion of
humans. In a sense we are all selfish for our own well being, come what may.
People’s view on fairness is based on many variables such as
material condition ,age, circumstances, knowledge, ethics…
Plato argued that “if a state is to avoid civil
disintegration …extreme poverty and wealth must not be allowed to rise in any
section of the citizen body because lead to disasters”. Which we have often
seen in developing countries.
Inequalities should be reduced .This will help bring greater
efficiency and prosperity in the society in the long run .Equity should be
viewed as dignity and worth of a person. Moral values too will be strengthened
in society.
Development in its wake will bring about a reduction in
poverty and inequality .The cake should be shared by all the citizens . It is
the onus on the government to see that every citizen should get a fair share of
the fruits of growth and development. That would be a meaningful progress of
the human race!
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