Extreme Inequalities

Until these inequalities are bridged, it is impossible for the nation as a whole to prosper, let alone be a world leader. An extract

Swati Narayan

Her sleeveless dress and quiet confidence were a breath of fresh air in the dusty, ramshackle home. Most of the other women in this family, from the Dom caste, were dressed in crumpled saris. Ranu’s husband, Jitu, too, in his smart shorts looked completely out of place in this remote Bihari village. After we struck up a conversation, I realized that the young couple had just crossed the open border, less than a kilometre away, from Nepal to Bihar on a day trip to visit their family.

The contrasts between these relatives who lived on different sides of the international border could not have been starker. In Kathmandu, Renu worked in a private canteen, while Jitu was a mechanic. The young couple were upwardly mobile and in good health and spirits. As a Nepali, Renu’s education in government schools had been free until grade eight. Every time her nine-month-old infant fell ill, she confidently took her to a nearby government health post for free treatment. The brimming self-assurance of this bright, young Dalit couple was not an exception, Since the return of democracy in 2006, as my research even a decade later showed, Nepal has witnessed an unmistakeable improvement in caste and gender equations.

Their Indian relatives, on the other hand, were struggling to eke out a living. Renu’s sister-in-law Malati, who was born in Nepal and had shifted to India two decades ago after marriage, complained about the caste discrimination that her children faced in school. She also confided that she was petrified of her family falling ill. In this Bihari hinterland, there were no health centres nearby, nor were free medicines available. In fact, the larger family had gathered to mourn the death of her brother-in-law, who had died of liver cirrhosis. Though alcohol was banned in the state, spurious liquor flowed freely. In 2022, journalist M.N. Parth wrote about families in Uttar Pradesh who routinely cross the border to go to Nepal, as healthcare was cheaper and better there. For these Indian families, the closure of the international border due to COVID-19 proved tragic.

This uneven progress in the quality of healthcare, education and life chances in India compared to its poorer neighbours like Nepal and Bangladesh was precisely the puzzle my five-year doctoral research aimed to probe. If the lowest tier of Dalits living in India’s neighbouring countries were so clearly able to lead a healthier,