It is not only the rising food inflation rate that tags the government as anti-poor but inaction in implementing policies to reduce amount of harmful pollutants in the air people breathe.
This argument comes from an Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIMA) case study on human health impact of air pollution in Delhi which reveals that low income and middle income remains worst affected by diseases like asthma, bronchitis and tuberculosis.
The national capital registers pollutants - PM10 concentration level - at an alarmingly high level.
Study by Prof Amit Garg, faculty of public systems group at IIMA titled 'Pro-equity Effects of Ancillary Benefits of Climate Change Policies: A Case Study of Human Health Impacts of Outdoor Air Pollution in New Delhi' suggests if the PM10 concentration level is brought down to 60ug/m3 - upper boundary of ambient air quality norm for residential areas in India - it will benefit the health of the economically weak sections.
The argument is based on the fact that lower income groups are exposed to higher concentrations of pollutants and have higher baseline mortality and morbidity rates.
There is unequal access to healthcare because of the expenditure required. The factors contribute in reducing the capacity of lower income groups to deal with air pollution impact on health.
Smaller particles of pollutants can harm respiratory and cardiovascular systems and are linked to asthma and mortality. PM10 results from coal burning, diesel combustion, construction, mining and quarrying.
The study states that the low and medium income urban households have higher mortality rates at 7.56 per 1000 persons in the low income category, 4.8 in medium and 4.61in high. The risks of suffering from asthma in Delhi are as follows - 18.82 low, 12.98 medium and 11.14 high.
“We should bear in mind that health consciousness increase with income and thus actual asthma risks could be much higher for the poor,” states the paper.
