The widening gap between the richest and poorest is damaging economies and pushing more people into poverty.
Oxfam India believes that a right to universal access to education and health care is a practical way of closing the gap. We work through programmes and campaigns on access to health and education across the country's seven poorest states. Our focus is on improving accountability of public and private delivery systems by enhancing the role of an empowered community.
Education is one of the key instruments for social change and empowerment of marginalised communities. With RTE, there has been slow progress in the delivery of education and in the rates of enrolment in recent years. Yet, key concerns such as stark levels of exclusion of Dalit, Adivasi and Muslim children persist.
In India, costly health care pushes millions below poverty line every year, and denies care to many who are already poor. Oxfam India has been part of a nationwide process working towards improvements in the delivery of public health services. This is being achieved by improving space for the communities’ role in monitoring government initiatives like the National Health Mission (NHM) and making government health services accountable.