Opinion - Letters to the Editor

Poverty and inequality

Sir, — The arguments between Andre Beteille (Nov. 2) and C.T. Kurien (Nov. 11) sound like the dialogue of the deaf. Since he ignores ideas of relative poverty, Prof. Kurien should have no objection to the former's preoccupation with the normative concept of poverty. Relative poverty is not too different from inequality. It reflects not just envy but self-esteem, which is central to human dignity and freedom. Prof. Beteille concludes that "the moral argument against poverty is altogether different from the moral argument against economic inequality". Poverty concepts based on ideas of equality have the tremendous appeal of the underlying sense of justice. Ideas of justice, from St. Aquinas and Aristotle down to Rawls, have subsumed a sense of equality even though views of equality have differed widely. Other equalities, legal, political, etc., get strengthened with economic equality and are often rendered ineffective without the latter.

M.C. Swaminathan,

Hyderabad Sir, — This has reference to the article `Poverty and inequality, again' by C.T. Kurien (Nov.11). The real problem is not of considering poverty and inequality as same or different but of what policy decisions are taken at the Government level to tackle it. Hence, it deserves the attention of policy-makers more than that of economists and sociologists. Unless the Governments design policies that allow the economic agents to interact effectively to push the economy in a sustained way, poverty and inequality will prevail as the rule of the day.

Sandhya K. Panicker,

Dindigul, T.N.

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