The average monthly income of members of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes communities is Rs 5,000 less than those belonging to other categories, a report by non-governmental organisation Oxfam India has found.
The report, titled India Discrimination Report 2022, also found that on an average, men earn Rs 4,000 more in a month than women. The average monthly income of Muslims was Rs 7,000 less than non-Muslims, according to the report.
The report focuses on discrimination faced by socio-religious and gender groups in access to means of employment, healthcare and credit facilities as well as in wages paid to them.
“Educational and wealth inequality or access to means of employment alone do not address the fractures in Indian society that perpetuate inequalities across age, gender, castes and religions,” the report noted. “Understood this way, inequality is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition for discrimination.”
The report said that endowment factors such as years of education, age and education of the household head significantly affect earnings. While members of the SC and ST communities had similar levels of education as others, the difference in salary in most cases (41%) was due to discrimination.
In terms on religion, the report said that non-Muslims have an advantage over Muslims due to…
