Equality means fair treatment rather than equal treatment. Comment. (UPSC CSE Mains 2018 - Political Science and International Relations, Paper 1)
Fairn treatment means treating people according to their needs. This does not always mean it will be equal. Equal treatment means treating everyone exactly the same. Equality and equity are both tools to achieve fairness. Equality is based on treating everyone the same, whereas equity is based on treating people in different ways depending on their needs.
“Differential treatment” refers to policy measures that are consciously designed by the state to discriminate among the citizens by certain specified criteria to protect the interests of the weakest among them. It is a policy through which special privileges are granted to underprivileged sections of society who in the past or the present have been the victim of social, caste or racial discrimination. These are affirmative action programs undertaken by the state to bring equity and justice among all sections of society. This principle of protective discrimination is also known as reservation, reverse discrimination, positive/affirmative action, preferential treatment etc.
Example “Men and Women are equal” must NOT mean that men and women should be treated exactly the same. Women face certain unique challenges due to their physiology that men do not face. This is why labor laws do not treat men and women the same. Women are entitled to maternity leave because of the tremendous pressure and stress that they go through both mentally and physically during pregnancy and childbirth. Even though some jurisdictions now allow for paternity leave, this is nowhere near the duration of maternity leave given to mothers. And that is absolutely fair. It would be unfair would be to say “We have to treat men and women equally, so both men and women can get only 3 days of leave after childbirth”.
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