World Day of Social Justice is observed every year on the 20th February. UN proclaimed it in the year 2007 at its General Assembly recognizing the need to promote effort to tackle issue such as employment, social protection, social dialogue, and rights at work. The International Labour Organisation has a key role to play in helping to promote and achieve progress in this constantly changing environment. Its member countries must pursue policies based on strategic objectives given by ILO. The present setting of globalization characterized by diffusion of new technologies, increase in capital and financial flows, the movement of people, especially working women and men is reshaping the world in profound way. There is always vulnerability of economics particularly to unprotected work and informal economy. India stands on shaky ground in spite of its self-assured high growth rate. Social asymmetry is an Indian reality. Ambedkar gave a powerful pointer after he presented the draft constitution – ‘on the 26th January 1950, we are going to enter into a life of contradictions. In politics we will have equality and in social and economic life we will have inequality’. An affirmative indication made six decades ago. Caste exclusion is one that is hard to erase from the Indian soil. Constitutional remedies to it remain elusive. A body like Khap panchayat can take life of innocent citizens in the name of honour, which only reinforces primitive belief systems.
Economic disparity is the added veracity that has impeded social justice. Debates over the definition of poverty line still occupy the national imagination. Large scale migration in search of job from rural to urban happens on daily basis. Indian metro cities have thousands of migrants arriving everyday. Survey reports indicate prevalence of starvation and malnutrition death among so many children in India. The government through its institutions and agencies, today after sixty six years of independence, gives toilet tutorial to its people. That one should have a toilet with septic tanks. Hands should be properly washed after every visit. The best place for childbirth is hospital. You heard it over the radio, of a woman voice instructing every evening. Earlier, people were either giving birth on tree tops or farmlands, it seems. It is unheard, or unreported – to be precise, of women dying on their way to hospital. Vast rural masses are deprived of hospitals. Countless number of children are still out of school. We agree that the government has rolled out a number of flagship programs to bring about social justice in the country. Nevertheless, India is lagging behind in social indicators like, Purchasing Power Parity, Life expectancy and Child mortality etc. from its neighboring third world countries. The wrongs could be in its evaluation and studies of identifying emerging issues that require policy intervention. Or, maybe the flaws are deep within the layers of execution. A day like the World Day of Social Justice should be a day to take a serious introspection.