Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access
Open Access Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Restricted Access Subscription Access

Quest for Equality: Affirmative Action in India


Affiliations
1 Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007, India
     

   Subscribe/Renew Journal


Substantial gaps exist between SCs and Others in access to education, quality of education, attitude of teachers, and access to learningenhancing resources, exacerbated by active discrimination inside schools. While the majority of Dalits are not directly affected by Affirmative Action, the programme enables many of them to escape subservient roles. Affirmative Action in India needs stronger implementation. Provision of quotas should be seen as the beginning of Affirmative Action, not its end. Supplementary measures have crucial implications for the success or failure of the programme, argues the paper.
Subscription Login to verify subscription
User
Notifications
Font Size


  • Darity, William Jr., & Ashwini Deshpande (eds) (2003), "Boundaries of Clan and Colour: Cross National Comparisons of Inter- Group Inequality", Routledge, London.
  • Deshpande, Ashwini (2001), "Caste at Birth? Redefining Disparity in India", Review of Development Economics, 5 (1) February: 130-44
  • Deshpande, Ashwini (2007), "Overlapping Identities under Liberalisation: Gender and Caste in India", Economic Development and Cultural Change, 55 (4) July: 735-60
  • Deshpande, Ashwini & Katherine Newman (2007), "Where the Path Leads: the Role of Caste in Post-university Employment Expectations", Economic & Political Weekly, XLII (41) October 13: 4133-40.
  • Galanter, Marc (1984), Competing Equalities: Law and the Backward Classes in India, University of California Press, Berkeley.
  • Jodhka, Surinder & Katherine Newman (2007): "In the Name of Globalization: Meritocracy, Productivity and the Hidden Language Of Caste in the Employment Process", Economic & Political Weekly, XLII (41) October 13.
  • Madheswaran S. & Paul Attewell (2007): "Earnings Differences by Caste in the Urban Labour Market", Economic & Political Weekly, XLII (41) October 13.
  • Nambissan, Geetha (2007): "Exclusion, Inclusion and Education: Perspectives and experiences of Dalit Children", Indian Institute of Dalit Studies Working Paper, New Delhi.
  • Pande, Rohini (2003), "Can Mandated Political Representation Provide Disadvantaged Minorities Political Influence? Theory and Evidence from India", American Economic Review, September, 93(4): 1132-51.
  • Royster, Deirdre (2003), Race and the Invisible Hand: How White Networks Exclude Black Men from Blue-collar Jobs, University of California Press. Berkeley.
  • Thorat S.K. & Paul Attewell (2007), "The Legacy of Social Exclusion: a Correspondence Study of Job Discrimination in India", Economic & Political Weekly, XLII (41) October 13.

Abstract Views: 320

PDF Views: 0




  • Quest for Equality: Affirmative Action in India

Abstract Views: 320  |  PDF Views: 0

Authors

Ashwini Deshpande
Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi, Delhi-110007, India

Abstract


Substantial gaps exist between SCs and Others in access to education, quality of education, attitude of teachers, and access to learningenhancing resources, exacerbated by active discrimination inside schools. While the majority of Dalits are not directly affected by Affirmative Action, the programme enables many of them to escape subservient roles. Affirmative Action in India needs stronger implementation. Provision of quotas should be seen as the beginning of Affirmative Action, not its end. Supplementary measures have crucial implications for the success or failure of the programme, argues the paper.

References