Whether it is in education , health or jobs, there are enormous differences in outcomes in modern , so much so that it often seems like two countries exist within one. Economic opportunities have undoubtedly expanded for a section of India's population, but there are serious obstacles in the path of many.
and development economist has written about the 'conversion handicap' which, quite separately from an 'earnings handicap' , impedes people from achieving their full potential. In India, this could be caste, where a dalit schoolboy who is made to sit separately from other classmates is not able to fully actualise the benefits of an education. It could also be gender, where a woman employee who faces sexual harassment in an office is not able to perform to the best of her ability.
India's scheduled castes, who make up 16.2% of the population, are poorer, less educated, more malnourished and in lower-paying jobs than people belonging to 'upper' castes. (see table) Crimes against dalits based on their caste alone, ostracisation and humiliation remain rampant, particularly in rural India. They also face difficulties in filing police complaints or getting a fair trial.
For all its many failings, one of independent India's achievements must surely be the expansion of the political voice for people belonging to backward castes through the rise of political parties formed with the explicit objective of the empowerment of these castes. Few at the moment of Independence would have imagined that a dalit woman would one day be chief minister of Uttar Pradesh or speaker of Parliament. But the translation of political voice into an expansion of economic opportunity and human dignity is still work in progress.
For women's rights too, one of the most significant changes in modern history has been in the sphere of expanded political voice. The 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution passed in 1993 reserved one-third of seats in all panchayati raj institutions and local body elections for women. Some states like Bihar have further raised this to 50%.
The results of this experiment have been inspiring. Elected women sarpanches reported an increase in their self-esteem and greater say in household decisions , while their performance was graded as equal to that of men by the community . In addition, more women candidates run for election in an open ward if it has been reserved in the past, showing that the reservation does have a lasting impact.
Guaranteed equal rights as men in the Constitution, women continue to be treated unequally, right from the moment of conception. The shows that far from abating, the preference for male children as exhibited through sexselective abortions of female babies has only grown, now touching even formerly egalitarian states and communities. Even while girls outperform boys in school examinations year after year, they are less likely to be enrolled, complete school and move on to higher education than their brothers. As adults, they often face domestic violence and do not have equal voice as their husbands in household and economic decisions.
Organizations working for social justice thus often work on helping marginalised groups become more aware of their rights, helping them organise and protect against backlash. For instance, many tribal rights groups helped spread information about land and resource rights among adivasis which then built pressure for the enactment of the Forest Rights Act. In the sphere of rights for sexual minorities, the repeal of section 377 by the HC came as a result of tireless work by gay rights campaigners, lawyers and a sensitive bench, leading to the biggest milestone yet in the fight for the empowerment of India's LGBT community.
One of the significant changes in the new language of social justice in India is the rise of the rights-based approach to public goods. This is not a mere rhetorical change; the very thought that nutrition or healthcare is a right, and not simply a 'public good' can be empowering . The Right To Education was passed last year, the NREGA came out of debate around the Right To Employment, some states like Assam have passed the Right To Health, and a vociferous Right To Food campaign has forced the government to move towards a Food Security Bill.
In the last few years, one of the strongest tools in the armoury of advocacy groups has been the Right To Information Act. Brought into being after a long grassroots agitation by campaigners led by the Rajasthan-based Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, the Act has helped democratize information by legislating transparency in a country where being rich means that you get answers to your questions faster and your complaints are responded to quicker. Using the RTI, groups as diverse as south Delhi house-owners concerned about water tariffs and rural Rajasthani women angry at not receiving their full NREGA wages have forced governments to be more transparent and accountable. Unsurprisingly, field experiments have found that merely filing an RTI application is almost as effective as paying a bribe for delivery of basic services.
Sometimes awareness generation and empowerment can be much more nutsand-bolts , almost prosaic, but of potentially monumental consequence. A large part of awareness generation is associated with making people aware of existing or new government schemes, their significance and how these can be accessed.
Some government departments have been known to launch novel and highly effective information campaigns. Kerala's panchayati raj department ran a televised reality show to find the state's most "green" panchayat, discussing sustainable development alternatives through this medium in each episode.
Game of the name
The popular narrative on urbanization is that caste prejudices break down in modern India's economy. However academic Sukhadeo Thorat and his colleague Paul Attewell disproved this in a study published in 2009. Thorat and Attewell answered by correspondence advertisements placed in English newspapers for skilled jobs in private sector firms.
The academic duo found that the fictitious applicants who had dalit or Muslim last names were far less successful in being called for an interview than those with upper caste Hindu last names, even when they were better qualified! The fact that this happened without the advertiser being aware of anything beyond the names and the qualifications clearly suggested bias based on the names.
and development economist has written about the 'conversion handicap' which, quite separately from an 'earnings handicap' , impedes people from achieving their full potential. In India, this could be caste, where a dalit schoolboy who is made to sit separately from other classmates is not able to fully actualise the benefits of an education. It could also be gender, where a woman employee who faces sexual harassment in an office is not able to perform to the best of her ability.
India's scheduled castes, who make up 16.2% of the population, are poorer, less educated, more malnourished and in lower-paying jobs than people belonging to 'upper' castes. (see table) Crimes against dalits based on their caste alone, ostracisation and humiliation remain rampant, particularly in rural India. They also face difficulties in filing police complaints or getting a fair trial.
For all its many failings, one of independent India's achievements must surely be the expansion of the political voice for people belonging to backward castes through the rise of political parties formed with the explicit objective of the empowerment of these castes. Few at the moment of Independence would have imagined that a dalit woman would one day be chief minister of Uttar Pradesh or speaker of Parliament. But the translation of political voice into an expansion of economic opportunity and human dignity is still work in progress.
For women's rights too, one of the most significant changes in modern history has been in the sphere of expanded political voice. The 73rd and 74th amendments to the Constitution passed in 1993 reserved one-third of seats in all panchayati raj institutions and local body elections for women. Some states like Bihar have further raised this to 50%.
The results of this experiment have been inspiring. Elected women sarpanches reported an increase in their self-esteem and greater say in household decisions , while their performance was graded as equal to that of men by the community . In addition, more women candidates run for election in an open ward if it has been reserved in the past, showing that the reservation does have a lasting impact.
Guaranteed equal rights as men in the Constitution, women continue to be treated unequally, right from the moment of conception. The shows that far from abating, the preference for male children as exhibited through sexselective abortions of female babies has only grown, now touching even formerly egalitarian states and communities. Even while girls outperform boys in school examinations year after year, they are less likely to be enrolled, complete school and move on to higher education than their brothers. As adults, they often face domestic violence and do not have equal voice as their husbands in household and economic decisions.
Organizations working for social justice thus often work on helping marginalised groups become more aware of their rights, helping them organise and protect against backlash. For instance, many tribal rights groups helped spread information about land and resource rights among adivasis which then built pressure for the enactment of the Forest Rights Act. In the sphere of rights for sexual minorities, the repeal of section 377 by the HC came as a result of tireless work by gay rights campaigners, lawyers and a sensitive bench, leading to the biggest milestone yet in the fight for the empowerment of India's LGBT community.
One of the significant changes in the new language of social justice in India is the rise of the rights-based approach to public goods. This is not a mere rhetorical change; the very thought that nutrition or healthcare is a right, and not simply a 'public good' can be empowering . The Right To Education was passed last year, the NREGA came out of debate around the Right To Employment, some states like Assam have passed the Right To Health, and a vociferous Right To Food campaign has forced the government to move towards a Food Security Bill.
In the last few years, one of the strongest tools in the armoury of advocacy groups has been the Right To Information Act. Brought into being after a long grassroots agitation by campaigners led by the Rajasthan-based Mazdoor Kisan Shakti Sangathan, the Act has helped democratize information by legislating transparency in a country where being rich means that you get answers to your questions faster and your complaints are responded to quicker. Using the RTI, groups as diverse as south Delhi house-owners concerned about water tariffs and rural Rajasthani women angry at not receiving their full NREGA wages have forced governments to be more transparent and accountable. Unsurprisingly, field experiments have found that merely filing an RTI application is almost as effective as paying a bribe for delivery of basic services.
Sometimes awareness generation and empowerment can be much more nutsand-bolts , almost prosaic, but of potentially monumental consequence. A large part of awareness generation is associated with making people aware of existing or new government schemes, their significance and how these can be accessed.
Some government departments have been known to launch novel and highly effective information campaigns. Kerala's panchayati raj department ran a televised reality show to find the state's most "green" panchayat, discussing sustainable development alternatives through this medium in each episode.
Game of the name
The popular narrative on urbanization is that caste prejudices break down in modern India's economy. However academic Sukhadeo Thorat and his colleague Paul Attewell disproved this in a study published in 2009. Thorat and Attewell answered by correspondence advertisements placed in English newspapers for skilled jobs in private sector firms.
The academic duo found that the fictitious applicants who had dalit or Muslim last names were far less successful in being called for an interview than those with upper caste Hindu last names, even when they were better qualified! The fact that this happened without the advertiser being aware of anything beyond the names and the qualifications clearly suggested bias based on the names.
No comments:
Post a Comment