According to the IMF, India has surpassed the United Kingdom
to become the worlds fifth-largest economy. Morgan Stanley predicts that
India will have Asia's fastest economic growth next year.
But what does this growth tale signify for the typical
Indian? Especially when neither the employment rate nor per capita income are
increasing? The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation
estimates that India’s yearly per capita income (based on Net National Income at
Constant Prices) will be Rs. 91,481 in 2021–2022—remaining below the
pre–pandemic level.
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy estimates that in
August 2022, the unemployment rate will still be high at 8%. For young people
(aged 15 to 24), the employment rate or worker population ratio has decreased
from 20.9 percent in 2017 to 10.4 percent in 2022.
Increasing Suicide
Rates
A bleak picture of the general economic health of Indians is
painted in the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2021 report, Accidental Deaths and Suicides in India,
the suicide rate among Indians who are employable has been rising steadily since 2014, but it reached frightening
proportions in 2021.1,64,033 suicide cases in total were reported to the police
in 2021, an increase of 7.2% from 1,53,052 occurrences in 2020. Daily wage
earners made up the largest category (25.6%), followed by self-employed
individuals, the unemployed, and those working in the agricultural industry.
The mismanagement of the lockdowns contributed significantly
to the Indian economy suffering severely when the COVID-19 pandemic
arrived in 2020. This caused a large exodus of the urban working population, many
of whom had to trek hundreds of kilometres to return to their villages. The
full effects of those times; economic and psychological effects may now be
visible.
In 2021, economic despair was a major contributing
factor in the suicides of self-employed people (12.3%), the jobless (8.35%),
farmers, and agricultural workers (6.6 per cent). The suicide rate in these
categories is a distressing 52.85% when combined with the number of people who made a
living as daily wage earners. In comparison to farmers and farm labourers,
daily wage earners, the self-employed, and the jobless have died by suicide at
a higher rate since 2017. A total of 59,498 suicides were reported in 2015,
61,223 in 2016, 65,426 in 2017, 65,584 in 2018, 71,174 in 2019, 81,327 in 2020,
and 86,830 in 2021 in these three categories.
The Ministry of Home Affairs reports that between 2018 and
2020, almost 16,000 people committed suicide as a result of bankruptcies or
debt, while 9,140 people were jobless. The numbers are 2.2 lakh daily wage
earners, over 1 lakh self-employed people, over 90,000 unemployed people, and
76,824 farmers and farm labourers between 2015 and 2021. In 2021, 45,026
females and 1,18,979 males committed suicide, according to the data.
In the farming industry, Maharashtra (37.3%), Karnataka
(19.9%), Andhra Pradesh (9.8%), Madhya Pradesh (6.2%), and Tamil Nadu (6.2%)
recorded the most suicide instances (5.5 per cent). 5 121 of the 5,563
agricultural labourers who committed suicide in 2021 were men, and 442 were
women. There were no known suicides of agricultural labourers or farmers in
states like West Bengal, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, Tripura, Manipur, Arunachal
Pradesh, and Uttarakhand as well as union territories like Chandigarh,
Lakshadweep, and Puducherry.
31.6 percent (51,812) of those who died by suicide had an
annual income between Rs. 1 lakh and less than Rs. 5 lakhs, making up the
remaining 64.2% (1,05,242) of suicide victims.
Deaths in police
custody
Other noteworthy data from the NCRB's Crime in India
study does not speak well for the state of the nation. For instance, Gujarat had
a 53% increase in the number of deaths while in custody from 15 in 2020 to 23
in 2021. This is the highest rate in the nation, which saw 88 deaths while in
custody in comparison to 76 in 2020.
The majority of cases filed under special and local laws
under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) in 2021 were in Jammu and
Kashmir. 289 of the 814 cases reported in India under the UAPA were in Jammu
and Kashmir, 157 were in Manipur, 95 were in Assam, 86 were in Jharkhand, and
83 were in Uttar Pradesh. The two states having the most reports of racial
unrest in 2021 were Jharkhand and Maharashtra, with 100 and 77 cases,
respectively.
Violence against
women
The number of crimes against women increased by 15% last
year, with Delhi being the most dangerous large city. The state with the most
rape cases was Rajasthan. The home continues to be a hazardous place for the
majority of women; of the crimes against women, 31.8% were classified as
cruelty by a husband or a member of his family. A little over 20% of incidents
were classified as assaults on women with the goal to offend modesty, 17.6% as kidnapping
and abduction, and 7.4% as rape. In addition, 1,580 women were trafficked, 15
girls were sold, 107 women were acid-attack victims, and 2,668 women were the
victims of cybercrime.
Due to their simultaneous persecution from patriarchy and
caste, Dalit and Adivasi women continue to have the worst conditions. Of the
total incidents reported, cases of rape against Schedule Caste women (including
kids) make up 7.64 percent (3,893 cases), with 2,585 cases against Dalit women
and 1,285 cases against minors. The combined percentage of rape, attempted
rape, assaults on women to violate their modesty, and kidnappings of women and minors
was 16.8%. (8,570 cases). 1 324 incidents of rape against women belonging to
Scheduled Tribes were reported, or 15% of all cases. The total number of rapes,
attempted rape, assaults on women to violate their modesty, and kidnapping
cases was 26.8%. (2,364).
No matter how far the BJP has reached out to the communities
in it’s political campaign, the 2021 NCRB figures reveal a similar trend of an
increase in violence. Atrocities against Scheduled Castes increased by 50,900
(1.2% over 2020) in 2021. (50,291 cases). The state with the most Scheduled
Caste atrocity instances was Uttar Pradesh (13,146 cases, or 25.82%), followed
by Rajasthan (7,524, 14.7%), Madhya Pradesh (7,214, 14.1%), Bihar (5,842, 11.4%),
and Odisha (2,327, 4.5 per cent).
In 2021 (8,802 incidents), Scheduled Tribes experienced 6.4%
more atrocities than in 2020. (8,272 cases). The states with the most cases
were Rajasthan (2,121 cases, 24%), Odisha (2,627 cases, 29.8%), and Madhya
Pradesh (2,627 cases, 29.8%). (676 cases, 7.6 per cent). Next on the list was
Maharashtra (628 cases, 7.13%), then Telangana (512 cases, 5.81 per cent).
These five States reported 74.57 per cent of cases of atrocities against
Scheduled Tribes.
Even after the Acts amendments went into effect in 2016, the
National Coalition for Strengthening SCs and STs (Prevention of Atrocities)
Act, a platform of more than 500 Dalits and Adivasis civil society
organisations, communities, leaders, and activists, claims that the Acts implementation
remains challenging.
Rintu Talukdar,
1 st Semester
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