New Delhi: According to a recent Oxfam India survey, non-Muslims make an average of Rs 7,000 more per month than Muslims while people who do not belong to the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Schedules Tribes (STs) make an average of Rs 5,000 more per month than those who do. The ‘India Discrimination Report 2022,’ which emphasises prejudice in accessing employment, livelihoods, and agricultural loans among others, states that in 2019–20, 15.6% of urban Muslims aged 15 and over were working regular paid jobs, compared to 23.3% of non-Muslims.
Self-employed SC/ST workers earn Rs 5,000 less than non-SC/STs and discrimination accounts for 41 per cent of this gap. The data said unequal income among rural SC and ST casual wage workers was majorly — 79 per cent because of discrimination in 2019-20. This is a sharp increase of 10 per cent from the previous year. In rural areas, Muslims saw the sharpest increase in unemployment — 17 per cent in the first quarter of COVID-19. Muslims recorded the maximum decline in earnings of 13 per cent, while it was close to 9 per cent for others. For salaried workers, Muslims emerge as the most affected group for which figures went up from 11.8 to 40.9 in rural areas.
In rural areas, Muslims saw the sharpest increase in unemployment — 17 per cent in the first quarter of COVID-19. Muslims recorded the maximum decline in earnings of 13 per cent, while it was close to 9 per cent for others. For salaried workers, Muslims emerge as the most affected group for which figures went up from 11.8 to 40.9 in rural areas. The average earning of self-employed workers is Rs 15,878 for non-SC/ST and Rs 10,533 for SCs/ST, according to a report by the Social Security Board (SSB). The rural SC and ST communities are facing an increase in discrimination in casual employment. Caste acts as a major barrier while accessing credit for agriculture despite many agricultural labourers being from SC or ST communities.
Muslims continue to face multidimensional challenges in accessing salaried jobs and income through self-employment as compared to non-Muslims. The lower employment for urban Muslims was largedly — 68.3 per cent — due to discrimination, in 2019-20. Discrimination faced by Muslims in 2004-05 was 59.3 percent, an increase of nine per cent over 16 years. Non-Muslims earn an average of Rs 15,878 on an average, while self-employed Muslims earn Rs 11,421. This means non-Muslims are earning a third more than Muslims in self-employment, Oxfam said. The findings are based on the government data on employment and labour from 2004-05 to 2019-20.
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