Inclusive growth for the marginalized: inclusion vs. pseudo-inclusion

Abstract

Realizing inclusive growth for the marginalized social sections is a major objective guiding current policy formulations in India and similar developing countries. India has sought to achieve this goal by redistributive measures like Food Security Act and the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act. Such a policy strategy based on redistribution alone may not be sustainable in the long run. Hence, this study distinguishes between ‘Sustainable Inclusive Growth’ (Inclusion) and ‘Non-sustainable Inclusive Growth’ (Pseudo-Inclusion). It defines corresponding measures of ‘Inclusion’ and ‘pseudo-Inclusion’ by articulating four dimensions of an inclusive growth process. The empirical illustrations based on the National Sample Survey data on household consumption distribution for the post-economic-reform (post-1991) period in India show that the government has not been able to realize comprehensive inclusion with reference to the four dimensions emphasized in the concept proposed.