INCLUSIVITY

TO MY MIND, the two biggest problems faced by the world today are Climate Change (cause celebre of Sustainability) and Inclusivity

- Krishan Kalra

All progress that humanity is making by way of scientific break-through, industrialisation, new discoveries, innovations, space exploration, medical sciences, digitisation, artificial intelligence et al can come to naught if we fail to (a) arrest the march of climate change and (b) ensure that all economic gains percolate down to the bottom of the pyramid and are distributed reasonably fairly between countries, states and regions within the country, rural and urban areas, even within the same village between farmers who become super rich by selling their lands for industry and others who continue to till their small parcels of land, different sections of society, people with disabilities and gender parity etc.

There has to be adequate balance in jobs both in the government and in the private sector, blue collar and white-collar employment, factories and offices, market places, infrastructure building, utilities like electricity, water, railways, transportation, R & D, cyber spaces, police, paramilitary and defence forces, teaching, hospitals, the performing arts, even admission to institutes of higher learning like the IITs, IIMs, medical colleges, etc. etc.

Having devoted almost all my columns, during the last seven or eight months, to ‘sustainability’, I thought I would take a break from that theme and begin sharing my thoughts on ‘inclusivity’. I plan to devote dedicated columns to areas with more glaring disparities, unsung and invisible champions who are trying to correct the situation and other issues that develop along the way. For this first column in the new series, I will just flag the critical issue of creating a level playing field for PwDs (Persons with Disabilities) or Divyangjan – as our prime minister refers to these people whom nature has denied some faculty or the other.