Overview

We are living in an imperfect world each of us expects to be perfect in all spheres of life. We may dream of a perfect world, nation, or society however reality is far from the dream. To bridge the gap between what should be and what it is, the governments are taking various measures and initiatives at the national level and various agencies/bodies at the international level. One such agenda is the development of SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals) by the United Nations for 2030.

In September 2015, world leaders agreed to adopt 17 SDGs for the 2030 agenda for sustainable development, which were implemented on 1^st January 2016. These goals spread a wide spectrum with an overarching objective of improving the quality of life, not only for today but for the future and to make a better living place that is inclusive. Out of these 17 SDGs, one of the important SDGs is SDG 10 which aims at reducing the inequality within and among countries.

Multiple inequalities exist in multiple forms and those could emanate from the place of birth, age, gender, residence status, ethnic groups, and disability status among others. These inequalities are detrimental to the growth and development of an individual as they force one to think and believe, the way society sees him/her restraining the potential. The problem does not end here but these inequalities are not only present but are passed to the generation as the legacy and it acts like a vicious cycle, which becomes difficult to break and come out of this. There are inequalities concerning income and pay, within a country. The type and amount of inequalities are much bigger when we talk of across nations which can emerge from the continent, language, status, education, etc. These inequalities, within and across, countries are harmful to the growth and development of the individuals, communities, society, and national and broadly of humankind.

We need to start and practice this in our daily and routine chores to make it a habit whether at home, office, shopping complex, government offices, or any other place. When we start this, we will make a big difference to the person concerned which is going to act as a catalyst in this process. This will have a chain reaction and things will start rolling from there.

Way Forward: Be The Change Agent

Charity begins at home as they say so practicing to reduce inequality should start at home and then we can see and imagine a big picture of this. Each one of us should take responsibility and say NO to inequality. We should treat our children equally, irrespective of their gender, age, etc. to be able to practice equality. In addition to this, we should treat our household service providers such as maids, newspaper vendors, guards, electricians, etc., and show no discrimination toward them based on their caste, religion, color, etc. We can further extend this to the classroom and make students aware of this concept so that they can not only help reduce the inequalities in the class but also be able to reduce this when they join the workforce.

The start is important and to start we need to have the right mindset. This will help us in taking the necessary actions towards reducing inequalities which exist in many forms. We need to be the change makers for reducing these inequalities as these are so deeply rooted it may take not a year but a decade or even a century before we call this world, “One and Equal World for All”.

Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow

Dr. Arti Chandani, Professor

Email: arti.chandani@jaipuria.ac.in

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-arti-chandani-2483921b/

Jaipuria Institute of Management, Lucknow

Ms. Smita Pande, FPM Scholar

Email: smita.pande.fpm21l@jaipuria.ac.in