Indian Exclusion Report (IXR) is released by the Centre for Equity Studies (CES) in New Delhi.
What is IXR about?
The 2016 IXR Report determines exclusion by taking into account four public goods, namely, pensions for the elderly, digital access, agricultural land, and legal justice for under trials.
In its 2016 report, it has found out that the same historically disadvantaged groups such as Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, and persons with disabilities and age-related vulnerabilities continue to remain as the most severely and consistently excluded groups of the society.
It also profiles four highly vulnerable groups in terms of their access to these goods.
What does the report say on agricultural lands?
The dominant finding of this report is that the groups most severely and consistently excluded are Dalits, Adivasis, Muslims, and persons with disabilities and age-related vulnerabilities.
On the provision of agricultural land as a public good, the IXR found that the pattern of land distribution broadly reflects the socio-economic hierarchy.
The rate of landlessness was highest among Dalits, at 57.3%. Among Muslims, it was 52.6%, and 56.8% of women-headed households were landless.
Around 40% of all those displaced by “development activity” were Adivasis.
Where Dalits, Muslims and women owned land, the holdings were meagre in size, with only 2.08% of Dalit households owning more than two hectares of land.
Also, the quality of land owned by Dalits was very poor, with 58% of it having no irrigation facility.
Land reform efforts have not benefited Dalits, women or Muslims significantly, according to the IXR.
Land allotments to SC/ST households were often only on paper, as allottees were forcefully evicted or not allowed to take possession, noted the report.
What does the report say on IT access?
Poverty and geographic location were the two major barriers to digital access, with urban locations enjoying better Internet penetration rates.
Government initiatives to improve IT access have been riddled with implementation problems and poor cooperation from government officials.
The report warned that in the new thrust towards a cashless economy, digital exclusion can often also result in financial exclusion.
The IXR also noted with disapproval India’s refusal to be a signatory to a non-binding UN Human Rights Council resolution to protect human rights on the Internet.
