Oxfam releases damning report on discrimination in Indian society

Muslims buy dates for Ramadan in a shop in New Delhi (illustrative image).

AFP - SAJJAD HUSSAIN

Text by: RFI Follow

1 min

In India, the international NGO Oxfam delivers an alarming report on discrimination.

For women, Muslims or citizens of low caste, the rate of access to employment and the salary are much lower than the rest of the population.

Inequalities which, according to the study, have been further amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Bangalore,

Côme Bastin

With equal skills, a woman earns 50 euros less per month than men.

A citizen of low castes or tribes receives 60 euros less than the rest of the population.

A Muslim, 80 euros less.

In a country where the vast majority of salaries are less than 300 euros, the figures are striking. 

They come from a first-of-its-kind report by

Oxfam

in the country, which seeks to measure not only inequality, but also its causes.

This is how gender, religion or caste were tested using government data.  

Women represent only 25% of the payroll

These large disparities in access to employment are not new to India.

But despite an egalitarian Constitution, the country is struggling to get rid of it, explains Pravas Ranjan Mishra, a member of the NGO's research team.

“

 Muslims are often confined to low-paying and degrading jobs.

For the lower castes, the situation is a little better thanks to the quota system.

But all daily workers are also facing a catastrophic situation.

This discrimination is more often observed in rural areas for castes and in cities for Muslims

 ,” he explains.

Another alarming figure, women represent only 25% of the payroll, a declining figure and much lower than other developing countries such as China or Russia.

Finally, according to the report, this discrimination has been aggravated by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

  • India

  • Womens rights