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Institutional CasteismSubscribe to Institutional Casteism

Caste in 21st Century India: Competing Narratives

Vol. 46, Issue No. 11, 12 Mar, 2011
Amaresh Dubey, Sonalde Desai

Recent debates regarding inclusion of caste in 2011 Census have raised questions about whether caste still matters in modern India. Ethnographic studies of the mid-20th century identified a variety of dimensions along which caste differentiation occurs. At the same time, whether this differentiation translates into hierarchy remains a contentious issue as does the persistence of caste, given the economic changes of the past two decades. Using data from a nationally representative survey of 41,554 households conducted in 2005, this paper examines the relationship between social background and different dimensions of well-being. The results suggest continued persistence of caste disparities in education, income and social networks.

Dalit Capitalism and Pseudo Dalitism

Vol. 46, Issue No. 10, 05 Mar, 2011
Anand Teltumbde

What does one make of the tiny section of dalits propagating dalit capitalism?

Social Exclusion and Jobs Reservation in India

Vol. 45, Issue No. 52, 25 Dec, 2010
Vani K Borooah

The root of the problem of poor dalit achievement in India lies in the many dysfunctional primary and secondary schools in the villages and towns. Affirmative action policies, which are implemented to boost a deprived group's employment rate, suffer from several defects, in particular, they have only a small effect when the group's educational base is low. Social exclusion robs people of their "confidence" and this loss adversely affects their capacity to function.

E-grantz for Dalit Students

Vol. 45, Issue No. 50, 11 Dec, 2010
Rajesh Komath, Roshni Padmanabhan

The educational grants to the students of the dalit, adivasi, and backward communities such as stipends and fellowships form an aspect of state affirmative action. Easy access to such assistance is as important as its adequacy. The transparency in its distribution is also a matter of concern.

Caste Injustice in Jawaharlal Nehru University

Vol. 45, Issue No. 26-27, 26 Jun, 2010
Joshil K Abraham, Santhosh S

Be it in the implementation of a University Grants Commission guideline on reservation for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and other backward classes in faculty positions, or in the matter of providing justice to student victims of caste prejudice and violence, the Jawaharlal Nehru University (New Delhi) administration has shown a regressive attitude that belies its progressive image.

Of Reservations

Vol. 44, Issue No. 01, 03 Jan, 2009
G N Saibaba, Hari Mohan Sharma, Karen Gabriel, Konika Kwatra, Others, Ravinder Goel

The death of Senthil Kumar, a dalit student of the University of Hyderabad, and the article on his life by N Sukumar (EPW, 15 November 2008) are a brutal reminder of the dehumanising social reality prevailing on our campuses, despite all the talk of social empowerment and advances achieved by Ind

Discrimination in an Elite Labour Market? Job Placements at IIM-Ahmedabad

Vol. 43, Issue No. 44, 01 Nov, 2008
E Somanathan, Sujoy Chakravarty

Using data on the iim -Ahmedabad's 2006 batch of mba graduates, we find that graduates belonging to scheduled castes or scheduled tribes get significantly lower wages (19 per cent lower in domestic jobs and 35 per cent lower when foreign jobs are included) than those in the general category. This difference disappears once their lower Grade Point Averages are taken into account, suggesting that the large wage difference is due to the weaker (on average) academic performance of sc/st candidates. The study suggests that in the absence of any serious attempt to equalise school-level opportunities, the current policy of reservations at elite educational institutions will be insufficient to equalise career outcomes even for the minority of sc/st candidates who can benefit from them.

Caste, Courts and Reservations

Vol. 42, Issue No. 14, 07 Apr, 2007

By staying the operation of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act 2006, the Supreme Court has ensured that “elite” central institutions of higher learning such as the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) remain elitist

Dalits: Prejudice in Institutions

Vol. 41, Issue No. 42, 21 Oct, 2006

Prejudice in Institutions Reservations may give students from a Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe background access to higher education, but it is not uncommon for these students to be discriminated against after they enter these schools of learning. Recently, the spotlight was turned by the media on the plight of these students in some of the institutions of higher education.

Social Inequality, Labour Market Dynamics and Reservation

Vol. 41, Issue No. 35, 02 Sep, 2006
Mritiunjoy Mohanty

This paper brings two new elements to the debate around expanding reservation in centres of excellence in higher education. First, it separately estimates upper caste Hindu profiles in education (dropout and completion rates), employment and relative incomes and establishes that UCHs are significantly better off in all these parameters than scheduled tribes, scheduled castes and other backward classes. It also establishes that in urban India, ST, SC and OBC have very similar profiles and are at a great distance from the UCHs. In rural India, OBCs are situated in the middle - between ST and SCs on the one hand and UCHs on the other - but again at a significant distance from the latter. Second, it links this privileged positioning of UCHs with changing labour market dynamics in the 1990s and suggests that as a result these castes dominate access to the best jobs in the urban economy. Access to high quality tertiary education has then become key to accessing the most dynamic segment of a decelerating labour market. It uses evidence from both of these to intervene in the current debate around expanding reservations to OBCs in public institutions of higher learning and argues that the above make expanding reservation imperative

Merits of Mandal II

Vol. 41, Issue No. 15, 15 Apr, 2006

ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WEEKLY Merits of Mandal II The controversial proposal to institute reservations for the other backward classes (OBCs) in institutions of higher and professional education

Reservations and Casteism

Vol. 40, Issue No. 09, 26 Feb, 2005
C P Bhambhri

The growth of caste consciousness has hurt the development of progressive social consciousness among the oppressed and exploited millions of the labouring classes because caste ideology has made workers casteists and not fighters for secular anti-poverty programmes.

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