The multiple shades of caste inequality in India
BEYOND NUMBERS Caste is an important fault line in India, however, there are variations in the socio-economic status of OBCs and caste groups
Over the past couple of years, one Indian state after another has been on the boil because of caste-based agitations. An analysis of a number of socioeconomic indicators suggest that while caste continues to remain an important fault line in India’s economy and polity, there are huge variations in the socioeconomic status and clout of different ‘backward’ classes and caste groups.
Data from the latest Economic Census shows that while the percentage share of firms and enterprises owned by OBCs is almost proportionate with their share in the total worker population, SCs have the lowest relative share among all social groups. There is reason to believe that discrimination, in addition to lack of access of capital might also be hindering the entry of Dalits in certain businesses.
In a 2013 research paper, Ashwini Deshpande and Smriti Sharma at the Delhi School of Economics used data from the third and fourth rounds of the Indian Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Survey to show that the share of SC-owned firms in the food and beverages category was much lower than the national average and the average for other social groups.
The employment-category-wise break up of social groups provided by the 201112 NSSO shows that Dalits are the least likely to start their own enterprises and most likely to work as labourers for others, with SCs having the lowest relative share in the self-employed category and the highest share in casual labourer category. The OBCs have a roughly proportionate share in each employment category. The NSSO headline figures on regular workers might be a bit misleading on this count because they do not tell us about the earnings associated with a regular job.
Data from the India Human Development Survey (IHDS) provides greater clarity on the nature of employment of different caste groups. The analysis of the IHDS employment data is based on a job classification methodology used by Mehtabul Azam of Oklahoma State University in a 2013 paper. The classification splits regular jobs into four categories: white-collar skilled; skilled or semi-skilled; unskilled and farmers. To give an example, the classification would treat an engineer as a white collar worker; a typist as a semi-skilled worker; and a sweeper as an unskilled worker. The data shows that non-Muslim upper castes have a much higher share among white collar employees, while Dalits and Adivasis (SCs/STs) have a much greater share among unskilled workers in comparison to OBCs. Thus, even though SCs and OBCs might have a similar share among regular workers, the nature of jobs SCs (and STs) are engaged in is qualitatively different.Not surprisingly, poverty levels are highest among SCs and STs. More than half of the SC population belongs to the poorest two quintiles (based on consumption expenditure data).
An important finding from the two charts given above is the poor condition of Muslims on most of these indicators, which has also been highlighted in official reports such as that of the Sachar Committee.
To surmise, these statistics underline the need to take a nuanced view of caste-based discrimination and inequality in India.
Despite repeated arguments by social scientists to take a more nuanced position vis-à-vis caste-based inequality in India, our political class has largely shied away from engaging in such debates. Perhaps, given the lack of diversity in our political leadership itself, this is not so surprising. As an earlier Plain Facts column pointed out, Dalits have a miniscule representation from seats which are not reserved for SC candidates.
According to the political scientists Christophe Jaffrelot and Gilles Verniers, OBCs have a share of around 20% among elected Members of Parliament in the Lok Sabha. While this figure is much more than the share of SCs, it still falls short of a proportionate share given the fact that OBCs have a population share of around 40% in India’s population.
The dominance of upper castes and OBCs in the Union cabinets has been stark since the early days of the Indian republic, as an earlier Plain Facts column showed. The already skewed balance gets even worse when the BJP comes to power, as can be seen in the figures for 1999 and 2014.
To be sure, even these figures do not tell us about difference in well-being levels among different sub-castes. The experience of the Socio-economic Caste Census (SECC), which was conducted in 2011, shows that flawed political decision making at the highest levels might have killed all chances of getting such data from the exercise.
The writing on the wall is clear. Unless we have credible and granular data on relative backwardness among India’s different social groups, India’s political discourse would be vulnerable to being exploited by both kinds of extreme voices—those who dismiss the reality of caste-based discrimination in the country, and those who have realised that demanding reservations for their community is a lucrative strategy of political blackmail.
Tadit Kundu contributed to this story
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