Introduction
Disadvantaged sections refer to social groups that have been historically or systematically excluded from socio-economic opportunities, resources, and decision-making processes. While NITI Aayog's National Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) shows that nearly 24.8 crore people escaped multidimensional poverty over the last nine years, profound localized and intersectional vulnerabilities persist across diverse demographic groups in India.
Identification of Disadvantaged Sections
Marginalized groups in India encompass diverse communities facing overlapping barriers:
- Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs): Historically marginalized communities, including Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Groups (PVTGs).
- De-notified, Nomadic, and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (DNTs): Communities stigmatized under colonial legislation who continue to experience socio-economic alienation.
- Vulnerable Genders: Women, girls, and transgender or non-binary persons facing patriarchal and heteronormative barriers.
- Persons with Disabilities (PwDs): Individuals encountering infrastructural, informational, and social obstacles.
- Urban Informal Workers: Unorganized sector laborers, gig workers, and migrant workers lacking formal safety nets.
Multi-Dimensional Challenges
- Economic Deprivations: Pervasive occupational segregation, high incidence of informal waste picking and manual scavenging, widespread landlessness, persistent wage disparities, and limited access to institutional credit among urban migrants.
- Social and Cultural Exclusions: Intersectional discrimination, where marginalized identities compound vulnerability (e.g., Dalit women encountering layered socio-economic prejudice), pervasive social stigma against LGBTQIA+ individuals, and inadequate universal accessibility in public infrastructure for PwDs.
- Political and Spatial Isolation: Effective political disenfranchisement of circular migrant laborers, ghettoization within urban informal settlements, and acute geographical remoteness affecting PVTGs and border communities.
Success of Government Initiatives
- Targeted Interventions: The PM JANMAN package (₹24,104 crore) accelerates the saturation of basic amenities, housing, roads, and telecommunications across 75 PVTGs. Similarly, the SMILE Scheme provides comprehensive rehabilitation, legal identity documentation, and Ayushman Bharat TG-Plus healthcare cards for transgender persons.
- Economic Security: Interventions like PM-SVANidhi have facilitated collateral-free formal credit for urban street vendors, while MGNREGA continues to serve as an essential rural employment and consumption floor.
- Social Capital and Empowerment: Stand-Up India promotes entrepreneurial leadership among SC/ST and women entrepreneurs, while the Accessible India Campaign (Sugamya Bharat Abhiyan) works toward establishing barrier-free physical and digital ecosystems.
Critical Gaps in Implementation
- Exclusionary Errors: Biometric mismatches and mandatory digital linkages under PDS and DBT platforms often inadvertently exclude elderly citizens, rural poor, and nomadic groups without fixed documentation.
- Awareness and Procedural Deficits: Low uptake of welfare mechanisms such as the SMILE portal or disability certificates persists due to cumbersome administrative procedures and low grassroots legal literacy.
- Quality of Outcomes: While programs like Samagra Shiksha and Ayushman Bharat (PM-JAY) have expanded gross coverage, learning poverty remains a significant bottleneck and catastrophic out-of-pocket health spending continues to burden vulnerable households.
Conclusion
To realize the constitutional mandate of social justice under Article 38, public policy must evolve beyond basic safety nets toward Amartya Sen's Capability Approach. Prioritizing human capital formation, digital literacy, and decentralized governance will empower disadvantaged communities to lead self-determined and dignified lives.