Inclusivity in Health, Education & Employment

Inclusiveness in Health Care

Health care in India has witnessed a noticeable improvement, with the average life span of a person improving from 32 to 68 years in the last seventy years. It is in search of affordable health care facilities that foreign patients prefer to visit India. According to a report by FiCCI-KPMG, the healthcare sector is poised to growth to $8 billion in 2020.

However, we see that quality healthcare is restricted to the the cities only, while there is a lack of standardised services in rural areas and villages. India needs a well structured healthcare system to support its massive population. The need of the hour is to ensure private sector participation with the increased allocation of budget for infrastructure development. The Ayushman Bharat scheme is one such step of moving towards inclusive health care for all. With this initiative, the government plans to help poor families avail health insurance for treatment in hospitals. Further there is a need to leverage technology to address the coverage gap. Services like tele-medicine and phone advice can be address this gap.

Inclusiveness in Education

According to Census, 2011, over 2.2 percent of the children in India are disabled. They constitute a significant resource and have the right to quality education , no matter if they have special needs. Education is a tool to equip children to meet life’s challenges and children with disabilities require it even more to help cope up with life. Inclusivity in education does not separate general and special education program. Schools are structured for all students to learn together. The need is to make provisions for inclusive education in the Right to Education act, 2009 and the Right of Person with Disabilities, 2016 to ensure inclusivity at learning.
As the country wishes to make strides towards a $5 trillion economy and beyond it is essential that the children which are the workforce of tomorrow need to be prepared to meet the challenges for the future.

Inclusiveness at the Workplace

With the aim of inclusiveness, drug maker Novartis brought in a gender neutral insurance plan for its employees in India. It has the option to include a same sex marriage or a live in partner in the policy. The coverage has also been extended to include children adopted via a legal process by couples or single employees. The company also introduced a gender neutral policy of 26 weeks. Similarly Godrej group and Tata Steel have adopted progressive policies. According to the Corporate Equality Index 2018, employers offering transgender inclusive health coverage has increased from 647 to 750 in 2019. Companies are bringing in inclusivity from hiring to healthcare and support of diversity.

Inclusive policies in the field of education, healthcare and employment can do well to make people’s lives more meaningful.

Topics: GS-III: Inclusive Growth and Issues Arising From It