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International Journal of Policy Sciences and Law

ISSN: 2582-9203

IJPSL
Volume 2, Issue 1

Impact of Reservations on the


Socioeconomic Mobility of the
Scheduled Castes
Yashovardhan Singh
1

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1 B.A. Hons. Economics, Hindu College, University of Delhi


International Journal of Policy Sciences and Law
ISSN : 2582-9203
Acknowledgements
This project has been completed under the mentorship of Mr Kunal Panda whose
guidance has helped me understand the intricacies of the subject matter and provide a
comprehensive perspective to write the paper in a systematic manner. He provided me with
knowledge resources that have turned out to be extremely crucial for this paper and have
constantly guided me at every point of this journey. His support in this paper has truly led to my
intellectual enrichment.

Abstract
Caste has been used historically as a tool of oppression against the marginalised lower
castes. Since India’s independence and abolishment of untouchability and other forms of
discrimination, a considerable section of the society holds the view that Caste-based
discrimination is a thing of the past. While the cases of explicit forms of discrimination have
surely decreased, caste still plays a very important role in the modern economy and so does the
implicit form of discrimination accompanying it. To undo this injustice, reservations were
introduced, hoping that they would act as a catalyst in the upward mobility of the Scheduled
Castes. However, the situation continues to be grim and the opposition against caste-based
discrimination has only increased. Therefore, to analyse these arguments and provide a
quantitative analysis of the plight of Scheduled Castes becomes necessary. This paper is an
examination of the different facets of caste in a modern economy and how effective reservations
have been in ensuring the upward mobility of the Scheduled Castes. It also analyses the present
intergenerational mobility in India and traces how reservations have impacted this
socio-economic mobility. The paper starts with an extensive introduction of sociological as well
as historical aspects of Caste in India and contextualises socio-economic mobility in India with
respect to caste. This is followed by a literature review of mobility studies in India and the
identification and impact of caste-based discrimination in the modern economy of India. The
paper concludes with a quantitative analysis of the impact of reservations on the socio-economic
mobility of Scheduled Castes in India.
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Keywords: scheduled caste, reservations, socio-economic mobility

1.0 Introduction
Caste has always been one of the focal points of exploration while understanding
development in India, as well as intergenerational mobility of the different social groups. It has
been viewed from a myriad of perspectives such as sociological, economic, anthropological,
political, historical, etc. This paper aims to understand the impact of reservation on the
intergenerational socio-economic mobility of the backward social groups, in particular, the
Scheduled Castes.

2.1 What is Caste?


Caste, sometimes commonly known as Varna or Jati, has been derived from the
Portuguese word ‘Casta’ meaning breed or race and has been used in the Indian Context in two
possible ways; Caste as Varna or Caste as Jati. According to Andre Betelle (Vaid, 2014), caste is
categorised by ‘endogamy, hereditary membership and a specific style of life which includes the
pursuit by tradition, of a particular occupation.’ Therefore, caste has always been more than just
a social identity. It has been a means of acquiring opportunities, wealth and social capital in
society. The French Anthropologist Louis Dumont in his classic book Homo Hierarchicus
condenses the (Vaid, 2014) caste system into one central feature: The hierarchy of the opposites,
that is, of the pure and impure. However, it is to be noted that this classification is not unique and
varies across regions. For instance, Brahmins are considered to be the most superior caste,
however, that is not the case as some Brahmins are anomalous because they are involved in
cremation duties and hence, are considered to be impure. He explains that they are considered
‘acchut’ and no person of a clean caste can sit or dine with them. Though there are rituals to
‘cleanse’ them, the Mahabrahmans (funeral priests) themselves explain that they participate in
sutak (death pollution) which afflicts their jajmans (patrons), and since they have many jajmans,
they are in a permanent state of pollution. (Parry, 1980) Hence, instead of following the
quotidian categorisation assuming Brahmins to be at the top of the caste structure everywhere,
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irrespective of their material or numerical strength, Prof. Srinivas coined the term ‘Dominant
Caste’ (Srinivas, 1951). The best illustration of this is the Gujjar community (A jati found in
certain Northern States of India) which is better placed than Brahmins, both in terms of social
and economic capital, though they stand at a much lower position in the traditional caste
structures.
The Caste system in India has also been redefined to become a political construct (Vaid,
2014). The Indian Constitution recognises three broad groups for consideration while providing
affirmative action. They are the Scheduled Castes (predominantly ex-untouchable Jatis),
Scheduled Tribes (that are geographically isolated groups) and OBCs (which were provided
reservation during the Mandal Commission). The definition of OBC is quite complex and hence,
our scope of the study is restricted to the Scheduled Castes.

2.2 What is Socio-Economic Mobility?


To think of caste as a static and rigid structure providing no mobility is a concept that
brings with it a lot of impediments, especially when trying to understand the possibility of social
mobility in the caste structure. It is defined as the persistence of socioeconomic rank across
generations, following Solon (1999), Chetty et al. (2014) and Chetty et al. (2020), all of whom
emphasize isolating the rank persistence from changes in economic growth and inequality
(Asher, Novosad, and Rafkin 2021). The debate among scholars regarding social mobility
comprises two diametrically opposite views. Some scholars are of the view that Caste provides
no means of upward mobility. The other group claims that some form of mobility is always
present but is largely restricted to certain groups within these lower castes who accumulate
capital, and consequently capture all opportunities. However, social mobility of caste can be
measured at two levels: The first is group mobility which occurs through imitation of lifestyle
and behaviour of the upper castes and requires them to accept that these groups have integrated
into their community. The second means of measuring social mobility is intergenerational, that
is, can individuals across caste avail themselves of all social and economic opportunities? (Vaid
2014).
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2.3 Reservation in India
Affirmative action policies have always been at the centre stage of controversy and
debate. While there is no doubt that for the increase in the share of SC student enrollment ratio in
higher educational institutions, reservation policies deserve a major credit, however, it is difficult
to ascertain the difference these policies have actually made, majorly because of the way India’s
reservation policy is structured (Weisskoppf, 2004). Firstly, these policies only apply in
universities under public administration, and though the major Indian universities are public, the
proportion of private universities has been rapidly increasing since the 1990s.

The provision of Reservation was implemented for the SC/ST and OBC after the
enforcement of the Constitution of India. In the beginning, it was 15% and 7.5% for the SC and
ST respectively. But in 1991 after the Mandal Commission, 27% reservation was provided to the
OBCs. In 1995, 3% of reservation was allocated to the other weaker section i.e. physically
disabled in jobs. After a long struggle by the teachers for SC/ST reservation in universities and
colleges, the same was allowed in 1997, after 50 years of Independence. Apart from it, after the
Supreme Court order, 3% reservation in jobs of universities and colleges was provided to the
physically challenged in the year 2005 and to OBCs in 2007.
Although the reservation of seats at higher level institutions was there from the 1950s, the actual
implementation was prolonged and as a result, took a decade or two to act at the ground level. To
date, while it happens to be functional on paper in every educational institution, the same does
not translate into a ground reality for all the institutions. In the case of educational universities
controlled by the state, the percentage of reservation is contingent upon the proportion of SCs
and STs in the population. (Weisskopf 2004).

3.0 Literature Review


3.1 Caste in Modern India
At the outset, it is important to note that Caste in modern India continues to exist and its
effects are still profound. However, the nature in which caste affects employment opportunities
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has changed drastically. With the presence of State intervention and positive discrimination, a
‘dual process’ has emerged. While disadvantages attached to being a lower caste continue to
exist, a trend of ‘opportunity hoarding’ has also developed. (Mosse 2018). In the context of the
caste system, hoarding implies the social exclusion of the lower castes by the dominant caste in
the form of restrictions from accessing certain opportunities. In a modern state like India, which
explicitly prohibits Caste-based Discrimination, this can happen through ‘credentialing’ which
includes creating an almost monopoly kind situation with respect to certain degrees of high
employability and then ensuring that most of the well-paid jobs require those credentials. This
amounts to structural violence against the lower castes but is generally not recognised as a form
of discrimination by modern states. For instance, seven of the top ten higher education
institutions are IITs(Indian Institute of Technology) and one in every three students in India is
employed in an engineering degree because of the high returns to investment.
However, the entrance exams to IITs, which is the JEE (if analysed without reservation), values
merit but completely ignores the social structural factors which increase or decrease accessibility
to these institutions via such national level examinations.

Similarly, in the case of IIMs, latent discriminatory practices can be seen in the faculty
hiring where only five of the 642 faculty members across all the branches belong to SCs and
STs(Subramaniam and Paliath 2020). Also, the absence of more SC and ST professors in the
university makes it a hostile space for the lower caste students as the faculty cannot empathise
with their life experiences.
At a general level, economic liberalisation is supposed to have eliminated caste privilege.
However, data from the IT industry in India suggests that most of the managerial positions
continue to be dominated by members of the dominant caste. Therefore, rather than reducing the
caste effect, economic liberalisation has intensified it as it has increased inequality in a society
that is highly stratified along caste lines. (Subramaniam and Paliath 2020)
In Businesses, we find three effects of castes:(1) network effects, (2) the ranking of markets, and
(3) caste exclusion and barriers (Mosse 2018)
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1. The Network Effect of Caste:
The urban-rural divide has intensified the caste divide in villages severely and has
unmasked another important feature of the caste system: its network effect. (Mosse
2020). For any Dalit worker, employment in an urban area is a big step from ‘poverty,
humiliation, and torture’ to ‘mere poverty’. However, when such opportunities arise, they
are immediately captured by members of the upper caste, because however economically
weak they might be, they have access to a better network of better-placed people by the
virtue of belonging to the upper caste.
In one of the studies, David Mosse shows that in the village of Allupuram, members of
the upper caste were the first ones to exploit their connections for more lucrative
employment opportunities in the urban areas, whereas Dalit workers had to achieve
economic mobility by investing in farm livelihood. At the scale of national level,
analysing data sets (Thorat, Madheswaran, and Vani, 2020) has made it clear that
post-reform development and its economic diversification have not, as regards
employment, breaking the association of ‘upper’ castes with higher-status professions
and Dalits with manual and casual labour. For the post-reform period, the data reveal
glass walls against Dalit occupational mobility out of caste-typed roles or low-end service
trades into more profitable ones, or self-employment (Das 2013). A widening caste
disparity in earnings at the top of the income distribution, and in access to the most
prestigious jobs, indicates a ‘glass ceiling’ effect. To borrow Kirsten Hastrup's distinction
here, caste is less ‘substance’—that is ethnicized collective identity in struggles for
political power—and more ‘set’—that is, looser, intentional, strategic network,
pragmatically realized in the search for jobs, skills, marriages, and support in local
dispute mediation (Mosse, 2020).
2. Ranking of Markets:
The ranking of markets plays an extremely crucial role in caste-based discrimination in
employment. The more inferior the markets, the more caste linked it is to occupational
history. This, therefore, determines their differential access to different labour markets.
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For sectors such as agriculture, mining, etc. there is relatively greater access to Dalit
workers. However, in the case of sectors such as finance, hospitality, education, Dalit
workforce entry is relatively restricted (Harriss-White et al., 2014; Thorat & Newman,
2010) In a research experiment conducted by Oh in rural Odisha, it was concluded that
the ‘average take up’ rate of a task fell by 23% if it was not associated with the traditional
task of the worker’s caste. The study also concluded that the rate fell even by 47% if the
task was traditionally associated with a caste ranked lower than the worker’s caste.
Another important feature of the study was that these choices were made in private
spaces instead of public, indicating that the reason behind the choices was the workers’
own caste consciousness instead of their concern for social image. (Kwatra 2019)
3. Caste Exclusion and Barriers:
A study of 90 cases (Prakash 2015) highlights the experience of a Dalit entrepreneur in a
liberalised economy. It suggests that Dalit entrepreneurs have to face higher implicit costs
in a business venture. By virtue of belonging to a lower caste, they face exclusion from
network circles that provide access to business information, provide preferred interest
rates, etc. As a result, a significant proportion of these ventures by Dalit businessmen,
fail.
One of the papers also mentions (Mosse,2018) the lack of demand faced by such Dalit
businessmen. They are of the view that while other businesses are evaluated for their
service and goods produced, these businesses are evaluated simply on the basis of the
caste of these owners. Even in the liberalised economy, an environment of pervasive
discrimination exists according to which, ‘Dalits are expected to be labourers’. Any
occupation other than that is perceived as a ‘social transgression’, consequently, even
setting up a business as small as selling fruits is seen as a form of ‘social assertion’.
These barriers push several educated Dalits, aspiring to be self-employed, into unemployment.

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3.2 How do we Measure Socioeconomic Mobility?
The term “Sanskritisation”, coined by Prof. Srinivas, is used to describe this process of
‘upward’ social mobility wherein members belonging to the lower caste start following norms
such as renouncing alcohol, vegetarianism, and other aspects of lifestyle which are deemed to be
the culture of the Brahmins. Robert Merton in his ‘Reference Theory’ talks about the creation of
a reference group within a larger group whose tenets and lifestyle are emulated by members of
lower social groups. This can also be viewed as a means of social mobility in the caste system.
To elucidate further, it means a Jati emulating members of higher varna and therefore becoming
a reference group for its varna. Therefore, when the process of Sanskritization takes place, these
groups are the first to climb up the ladder (Vaid, 2014).
Yadavs, though belonging to OBCs, are a strong example of this process. According to
their caste occupation, they are supposed to be cow shepherds, however, capitalising on their
numerical strength and backed by reservations that were provided by the State, they were able to
transform themselves and through upward social mobility, they are affluent sections of the
society in many parts of Northern India. In Uttar Pradesh, they have been gaining economic
power since the 1950s after the abolition of the zamindari system. They purchased land rights
from the State and became dominant agricultural communities. Their wealth and economic
power increased substantially post the Green Revolution and emerged as the new “bullock
capitalists”. They were given a political voice after the Kisan Movement of the 1970s and 1980s
and backed by the socialist leaders, these ‘low ranking’ castes challenged the Congress system.
By the 1970s, the Yadavs of Uttar Pradesh started to gradually introduce themselves in the
political process at the local, state and national level, backed by the reservations provided by the
State. Christophe Jaffrelot has rightly pointed out “The rise of Other Backward Castes is the rise
of Yadavs and Kurmis’. (Jaffrelot 2010)
It is important to note that the process of Sanskritisation is not a silent and effortless one. The
mere imitation, without a simultaneous economic and political rise, does not result in successful
upward caste mobility. There are two reasons for the same. First, according to Prof. Jodhka, the
process of Sanskritization is not something that members of the upper caste naturally appreciate.
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The initial response to such an activity is that of immediate suppression, either through means of
power structures or violence (Dube 1955). This is because it threatens the position of the upper
caste people and also violates the hierarchical relationship they have with the members of the
lower caste. That is why this process entails negotiation with the local power structures. For
example, Dr BR Ambedkar in Annihilation of Caste (1936) talks about the Sonars of
Maharashtra, who in an attempt to enhance their social status, styled themselves as 'Daivadnya
Brahmins' wearing their dhotis with folds on and used the word Namaskar for salutation, both of
which were endemic to the Brahmins. Not liking this imitation, the Brahmins (The Upper Caste),
under the authority of Peshwas (The power structure) put down this attempt and even got the
President of the Council of EIC (Again a power structure) in Bombay to issue a prohibitory order
against the Sonars residing in Bombay from styling themselves as 'Daivadnya Brahmins'.
To look at it from a contemporary perspective, we see that in an intercaste marriage
between a lower caste and an upper caste member, there is almost always caste-based violence
against members of the lower caste, not only because it violates the endogamous nature of the
caste system but also because the idea of a lower caste member appropriating the “property”
(women in orthodox communities are unfortunately always seen as the property of a father or
husband, and never an individual in herself) of an upper-caste man. Secondly, according to
Professor Jayaram (Vaid 2014), the public endorsement of the Sanskritized castes is a slow
process and is not likely to be reinforced if there is no simultaneous improvement in economic
status and political clout of the concerned caste.

With respect to the second means of social mobility, while studying intergenerational mobility in
developing countries, social scientists prefer to use education as a representative symbol for
social status primarily because of the lack availability and quality of data pertaining to income,
and also because it is a challenge to measure individual income in households that have a joint
production system (Asher, Novosad, and Rafkin 2021), for instance, a family of Scheduled
Castes working in the fields of an upper-caste landlord. Two diametrically opposite narratives
prevail concerning intergenerational mobility in India. On one hand, we have witnessed
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economic liberalisation and consequently rapid economic growth which has generated an array
of opportunities, thereby increasing access to opportunity. The political arena has also become
relatively more open to different social groups with political parties organising themselves
around caste and other social groups. The targeted affirmative action of the Government has also
drastically increased the variety of opportunities available to a lower caste son vis-a-vis his
father. (Asher, Novosad, and Rafkin 2021). However, at the same time, inequality continues to be
persistent, cultural alliances such as marriage are still visible along caste lines and elites in
business, civil society and the government continue to be majorly from the upper caste (Chancel
and Piketty, 2019). Therefore, it becomes important to define intergenerational mobility in a way
that is reflective of these disparities and contradictions.

3.3 Reservation for Scheduled Castes: Impact and Prejudices


While the main task of anti-discrimination laws such as the SC-ST Prevention of
Atrocities Act has been to ensure protection against discrimination of Scheduled Castes, an
additional responsibility of the Reservation policies is to develop conditions that are conducive
to their growth and empower them with equal citizenship. However, the reservation policy faces
strong opposition from the society, and the opposition is not said to be anti-reservation, rather it
is anti-caste (Thorat, Tagade, and Naik, 2016), the most recent being that the basis of the
reservation should be replaced with economic criteria rather than caste. Over the years, there
have been an array of allegations against the working of Reservation Policies which include but
are not limited to “ineffective outcomes” and “benefits only for affluent Scheduled Castes”.
The data suggests that most of these prejudices and apprehensions regarding reservation are
misplaced. For instance, the most common opposition regarding reservations is that those who
are better off among the Scheduled Castes appropriate the most benefit out of it, whereas the
economically weaker Scheduled Castes are left out. Therefore, many are of the view that the
basis of the reservation should be replaced by economic criteria instead of caste (Thorat, Tagade,
and Naik 2016) While the basis of this argument is correct, the proposition of economic criteria
is flawed. Casteism, like other forms of social discrimination, is a group theory. It discriminates
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because of the social identity (caste in this case) of the individual and is blind to the economic
strength of the individual. The government can definitely withdraw economic support to such
groups, but extending this to claim that reservation in itself should be withdrawn, is incorrect.

Similarly, another common criticism against reservation is that it hampers the


productivity of organisations. This again has no empirical basis. Data (Deshpande and
Weisskopf 2011) suggests that affirmative action policies including reservation have no effect on
productivity. The authors conducted their research in the Indian Railways and concluded that
there was no evidence supporting the claim that an increased number of SC-ST employees will
adversely hamper productivity growth. On the contrary, some of the results in their research
suggested that the proportion of SC-ST employees in upper job categories (A+B) was positively
associated with higher productivity.
They also draw a comparison with affirmative action studies in the United States and show that
even those studies claim that there are no “statistically significant” studies to claim that
Affirmative Action in labour markets hampers productivity. In fact, they claim that their research
is better in the sense that there is some evidence to suggest that there is a positive correlation
between labour productivity and affirmative action in labour markets.

While the proof behind this correlation is beyond the scope of their paper, they propose three
theories advanced by other theorists (Deshpande and Weisskopf 2011)
1. Individuals from marginalized groups may well display especially high levels of
work motivation when they succeed in attaining decision-making and managerial
positions, because of the fact that they have reached these positions in the face of
claims that they are not sufficiently capable – in consequence of which they may
have a strong desire to prove their detractors wrong.
2. Individuals from marginalized groups may simply believe that they have to work
doubly hard to prove that they are just as good as their peers – and so they may
actually work harder. Having greater numbers of SC & ST managers and
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professionals working in high-level A+B positions in the Indian Railways might
also serve to increase productivity because their community backgrounds make
them more effective in supervising and motivating SC & ST workers in C and D
jobs.
3. Finally, improvements in organizational productivity may well result from the
greater diversity of perspectives and talents made possible by the integration of
members of previously marginalized groups into high-level decision-making
teams.

Another important criticism raised is that there is no definite timeline as to when this policy will
be finished. While data suggests that there has been significant improvement in the status of
Scheduled Castes, it also shows continued discrimination though in a more hideous manner now.
Therefore, while there is no set timeline, it is in the best interests of the Scheduled Castes that the
policy is continued until the data shows that there has been uniform socio-economic mobility of
the Scheduled Castes across the spectrum, irrespective of their economic prosperity. Until
policymakers are not certain of that happening, reservation cannot be discontinued at any cost.

4.0 Data and Methodology


In order to understand the impact of reservation on the mobility of Scheduled Castes, this
paper attempts to have a quantified analysis of the disparities between Scheduled Castes and the
Forward Castes. To understand and analyse the situation, we use the following parameters using
data from other research papers (Joshi, n.d) (Krishnan 2018).
1. Gini Coefficient: The Gini coefficient is a tool often used in inequality studies to measure
the inequality in a society. A score of 0 suggests a highly equitable society where
everybody earns the same amount of income. A score of 1 suggest that all the wealth and
earning of the region is earned by a single person. This paper uses this measure to
understand the inequality between Scheduled Castes and Forward Castes as well as the
inequality among the Scheduled Castes.
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2. Theil Coefficient: The Theil Coefficient or the Theil Index as it is known, is also a
statistical measure to identify the economic inequality in the region. It measures the
distance of the society (or a particular group in this paper) from the ideal, utopian,
egalitarian society. The higher the score, the more distant the society is from equal
distribution.
3. Great Gatsby Curve: Great Gatsby Curve signifies the relationship between income
inequality and intergenerational income mobility. The concept was introduced by Alan
Krueger while delivering a speech at the Center for American Progress in 2012. The
Curve tracks the intersection of two measures (Krishnan, 2018).

5.0 Results
According to the data collection by the author (Joshi, n.d.), the below-mentioned graph
suggests that between the two rounds of the Indian Human Development Survey (IHDS) survey,
the mean household income of both Scheduled Caste, as well as Forward Caste groups, has
increased. However, the increase for Scheduled Castes is greater than that of the Forward Castes.
This means that though the Forward Castes have much higher mean income, the Scheduled Caste
groups are quickly closing in. At the same time, looking at the numbers in absolute terms
suggests that the income gap between Forward Castes and Scheduled Castes has widened
between the two rounds.

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Table 1.0

Source: (Joshi 2017)


Similarly, in the case of mean consumption expenditure, the gap in absolute terms between a
Scheduled Caste household and a Forward Caste household has increased, however, the increase
in consumption expenditure of Scheduled Caste households is much more than Forward Caste
households suggesting that while the Scheduled Caste households are progressing relatively
faster, the gap between them and the Forward Castes still persists.

Table 1.2

Source: (Joshi 2017)


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A more accurate way of calculating inequality is by using Gini Coefficient. As is clear from the
table, the inequality has increased for both the SC as well as Forward Caste groups (value of Gini
has increased). With respect to the two welfare aggregators, income and consumption, the author
(Joshi, n.d.) has shown the value of coefficient separately. It shows that while the consumption of
Gini for both Scheduled Castes and Forward Castes has increased equally, in the case of the
income Gini, the increase has been more in the case of Forward Castes.

Table 1.3

Source: (Joshi 2017)


However, since data cannot be totally decomposed, the Theil index is used to present a more
vivid picture of the between-group and within-group inequality.

Table 1.4

Source: (Joshi 2017)


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The Theil Coefficient presents a different story with respect to inequality in the caste structure.
With respect to both income and consumption expenditure, the Scheduled Castes are catching up
with the Forward Castes, as suggested by a fall in the Theil coefficient. However, between the
two rounds of IHDS, the author’s calculation suggests that within-group inequality has increased.
This means that there is unequal access to opportunities within a caste group as well and as a
result, inequality within each caste is rising. This reaffirms the idea of Robert Merton’s
Reference Theory, as the data suggests that within a caste group, a particular social group, with
access to opportunities, has started to emulate the upper caste groups and their rise is
accompanied by economic power and social clout as a result of which their access to
opportunities increases as compared to other members of the caste. As a result, within caste
inequality is rising.

Table 1.5

Source: Inequality in India (Joshi, 2017)


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While the overall inequality between different caste groups has decreased over the years, the
Theil and Gini coefficients do not explain the reason behind this closing of the gap. Therefore,
the data is decomposed further using the Oaxaca-Blinder technique. This suggests that the
overall difference in income between non-SC and SC in 2004-05 was about 30%. Out of this
difference, about 20% was explained by factors of education and urbanisation, which are
generally seen as engines of mobility, whereas about 9% was due to unexplained factors. In
2011-12, we see that this gap has decreased from about 30% to about 18% and the share of
explained factors in this gap is about 15% and the share of unexplained factors is about 3%.
This suggests that the two factors- education and urbanisation (considered to be the explanatory
factors)- have helped in closing the gap between the Scheduled Castes and Non-Scheduled
Castes.

Table 1.6

Source: (Thorat, Madheswaran, and Vani, 2021)


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However, data (Thorat, Madheswaran, and Vani 2021) also suggests another side of the story.
While there has definitely been upward socioeconomic mobility for the Scheduled Castes, they
continue to dominate lower occupations and their presence in traditionally elite professions such
as legislators, etc. remain abysmally low in comparison with other caste groups. As the quality of
occupation rises, the presence of Scheduled Caste workers in comparison with higher caste
workers in that particular occupation decreases.

Table 1.7

Source: (Krishnan, 2018)


The study of educational inequality also plays a very important role in understanding theories of
caste inequality. Educational inequality refers to the unequal distribution of academic resources
such as availability of faculty, school facilities, education levels of the previous generation,
purchasing power of additional books, and other factors, which, though happen to be beyond the
control of the children, but still continue to affect their educational outcomes. A study (Krishnan,
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2018) suggests that the Great Gatsby Curve for education is true in the Indian Case. In those
Indian States where there is high educational inequality during father’s time, by implication, it
becomes difficult for the son to rise up the ladder. Therefore, the Great Gatsby Curve, in essence,
makes a strong case against the common narrative of “meritocracy and credentialism” used to
oppose reservations. It suggests that reservations and other policy actions such as affirmative
action are important for the upliftment of these groups and for fostering conditions conducive to
their upward mobility. Also interesting to note is that while the Great Gatsby Curve is true for
India, in the sample of this research, the sons were more educated than their fathers. I
hypothesise that the reservations in educational institutions have provided a great impetus to
increasing the education levels of the latter generation as compared to their former generations,
and hence, the difference in the sample despite the Great Gatsby curve being true for the Indian
States.

6.0 Conclusion
The Caste System plays a very important role in the lives of people. For some, it acts as a
structural barrier while for others, it acts as a catalyst for progress.
To increase the socioeconomic mobility of Scheduled Castes, firstly it is important to eliminate
the prejudices about reservations. As has been shown above through empirical evidence and
theoretical arguments, the opposition against reservation is not anti-reservation, rather it is
anti-caste. In fact, the upper caste has no problem if the criterion for reservation is substituted
from caste to economic backwardness. In a modern Welfare State, the strongest and most
effective tool yet to tackle caste-based discrimination is affirmative action. And India, like most
of the other countries, faces opposition to such policies due to misplaced antagonisms like “low
productivity, less deserving, opportunity snatching” etc. which have been methodologically
busted in this paper. The government should introduce active awareness programs for
eliminating caste distinctions as well as promoting the reality of reservations so that the
opposition against reservations can be reduced.

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The government should also re-assess the implementation of its policies since most of them on
paper seem to be extremely effective but are not effective enough when implemented. For
instance, the SC-ST Prevention Of Atrocities Act: while it is an air-tight policy of the Indian
Government, people continue to suffer severely from discrimination and many Scheduled Castes
are victims of incidents where the discrimination is indirect and ‘due to reasons other than caste’.
In a judgment passed in 2018, a two judge bench of the Supreme Court of India ordered the
removal of certain provisions of the SC-ST Prevention of Atrocities Act on the grounds that it
was being used to ‘perpetuate casteism’ and ‘blackmail innocent citizens and public servants.’
The order prohibited aspects such as “immediate arrest of public servants” from the act and also
included provisions such as filing for an anticipatory bail (Johari, 2018). However, according to
public intellectuals like Sukhadeo Thorat, most of these ‘fabricated cases’ under the SC-ST Act
already suffer from weak investigation and relatively easier means of manipulating evidence
such as medical autopsies. Many times, these scheduled castes are overwhelmed by facing an
increasingly complex judicial system which requires heavy financial investments. At such times,
they place their faith in the local politicians, who according to them, are their true ‘messiah’.
However, these politicians are often the ones to disappoint them the most. In one case, a Dalit
rape victim in Rajasthan was forced to change her testimony by their local leader, as he had
arranged for an informal out of court ‘settlement’ between him and the accused party, which
would result in a hefty payment to the politician (Fuchs, 2018). Therefore, the government not
only needs to revamp its implementation structure to avoid such incidents, it also needs to lay
down comprehensive mechanisms in addition to the law implemented for their protection to
avoid the influence of capital and institutions of caste in the judicial redressal mechanism. By
reducing the incidence of such acts, the State can effectively curtail the structural disadvantage
that the Scheduled Castes face at every step in their life.
As for the widening economic inequality within the Scheduled Castes, the State can
withdraw financial support from those SC groups that are economically sound due to stable
income, and allocate these resources to those who need it more, thereby strengthening the
economic support provided by the State to support these marginalised groups.
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There is also a need to have an affirmative action policy in employment in the private sector.
Employment preference for SC is not on the agenda of the current affirmative action policy of
the private sector. The private sector should give some thought to ensure adequate representation
to the SC in their workforce to make it more inclusive and non-discriminatory. Given the high
discrimination in high-level jobs in the private sector, it needs to take some steps to ensure due
share to the SC in high-level posts in the private sector. Similarly, the public sector is not free
from discrimination in employment and wages. Therefore, labour market reforms in public sector
employment are also necessary. (Thorat, Madheswaran, and Vani, 2021)
As the data suggests, while the Scheduled Castes have been redistributed upward, they
continue to dominate “lower-level occupations” and as the level of occupation rises, their
domination in the category decreases. One of the reasons provided for this is that in the
government, lower-level jobs are outsourced to private sector firms who have a prejudice in
employing Scheduled Castes for such kinds of jobs. Therefore, the State needs to actively fight
against this mindset of the private sector and formulate policies to curtail this kind of indirect
discrimination against the Scheduled Caste in the labour market.

As mentioned earlier, the Great Gatsby curve is evidence of low intergenerational


mobility in India. Therefore, the government needs to introduce more policies at the primary
education level to increase the student enrolment ratio and provide additional support at tertiary
levels of education to ensure that students belonging to backward castes are able to continue their
education and fight against the systematic credentialism which denies them better job
opportunities in the first place.

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