(a) Crisis of Development: Displacement, Environmental Problems and Sustainability

Displacement

Immediately after independence, India was propelled on a path of modernization.

Modernization as an ideology of national development was inspired by Soviet models of industrialization. Hence, development policy in India is inclined towards heavy industries and large-scale projects. A major fallout of large-scale projects is that natives are forced out of their natural habitat.

Displacement has led to many social problems in India. The number of people being

displaced is high, and their victimization owing to the displacement is a crude reality.

According to Fernandes (1998), number of displaced people between 1951-2000 is 21.3 million. He further states that more than 40% of displaced persons are tribal. Hence, these development projects displace marginal sections of society; those people who are voiceless. Irony is, large-scale projects benefit the affluent sections of society (builders, contractors, technical consultants, educated employees etc.) at the cost of marginal sections.

Victims of Displacement

For national development, a country needs to exploit its resources. To exploit resources, the country establishes large scale projects in some regions. The victims are the indigenous people of this region. These indigenous people are usually tribal communities and rural folk. While the rich can cope up with displacement (indeed they profit from establishment of industries, since most land in the area belongs to them), the poor cannot cope with displacement. Hence, the victims of displacement are marginal and poor sections. As per one estimate, 40% of those displaced in 1951-1990 period were tribals, and another 20% were dalits (Sajal Nag, 2001).

These marginal groups have a symbiotic and traditional relation with their natural habitat. Their social structure and economic base are radically different from that of mainstream society. They are unskilled, uneducated, and have limited worldview. The work they do for subsistence is perhaps the only work they do. If you pay them a compensation and ask them to search for a job at another place, they cannot! Nor can they adjust to living in a new village. Problem is, these displaced persons have to find new job, new home and have to adjust to new places. Often, whole villages are forcibly vacated. The villagers are clueless about what to do.

Mechanism of Displacement

Marginalization of subaltern groups takes place in three stages

(a) Land alienation

(b) Industrialization

(c) Urbanization

Land alienation is the process by which indigenous groups lose control over the land they have hereditarily owned. Private concerns do it by fraud and by trapping the tribals in loan traps. Government bodies do it by implementing laws for direct control over forest resources.

The next stage is industrialization. This is accompanied by physical displacement.

Physical displacement breaks down the whole social fabric they have lived in since birth. Following industrialization, urban centres develop. The urban way of life is radically different from theirs. The advent of urban culture leads to cultural marginalization of the natives. Also, the natives cannot compete with skilled migrants for jobs in industries that have developed. This leaves them with only one option, i.e. ill-paid labour work. Above is the mechanism of marginalization. The mechanism of displacement is even more complex than this. Typically there are three types of displacement:

(a) Primary displacement: This is caused by development projects. This displacement can be voluntary or forced, but mostly forced. Some amount of compensation is paid to the displaced populace.

(b) Secondary displacement: This is caused by migration. Why migrate? After primary displacement, the victims take up a temporary residence. Here they face problems of starvation, violence and cultural distortion. Hence they migrate to another place in search of jobs and safety.

(c) Tertiary displacement: Inadequate adjustment with new ecological conditions at

rehabilitation site leads to tertiary displacement.

Consequences of Displacement

The problems faced by the displaced groups are multifarious; these are economic, social, cultural and psychological in nature. Some of the important consequences are:

(a) Destruction of society: Visualize a tribal who has lived all his life in a close-knit,

cohesive, organic society. What happens if he is removed from that society and put in another location? He cannot recreate the old society even though the whole tribal village has been displaced to the same new site. He experiences ‘culture shock’, as his interaction with outsiders increases. Many individuals lose their livelihood and resort to stealing and violence. Owing to joblessness, many start drinking regularly to kill time. Slowly alcoholism becomes a serious problem.

(b) Economic autonomy: In most cases of rehabilitation, proper facilities are not

provided. Land is taken and compensated by money and temporary unskilled jobs. The tribals who have been skilled only in traditional jobs cannot take up new jobs. Because they cannot take up new jobs, they fall into debts. At many places, money lenders make them bonded labour on their inability to repay loans.

(c) Impact on women and children: Of the victims, women and children are most affected by displacement. Displacement leads to distress migration of male flock, due to which women have to carry the economic burden of the elderly and children. Bereft of other options, they have to give up to economic and sexual exploitation. Prostitution becomes rampant, and many women are at the risk of trafficking for prostitution in far off places. Another consequences of distress migration of male folk is that often mothers encourage children to work in the unorganized sector. Child labour is very common among the displaced.

(d) Resistance movements: Cultural distortion and economic exploitation has driven the indigenous people at many places towards organized protest. A popular example of this resistance is Narmada Bachao Andolan (NBA). Wherever the protests have been suppressed by law and order machinery, violence and conflict has resulted. Many of the disillusioned youths become radical and join the ranks of naxalites.

Towards a Solution

The core issue in the problem of displacement is that of social justice. A right to life of dignity is enshrined in Article 21 of the Constitution of India. It is the imperative of the state to provide basic citizenship rights to every citizen. This raises some serious

questions: What is the social cost of development? Indeed, what is development?

What is the right approach to development?

The current approach to development has led to not only displacement but also

widespread environmental degradation. The natives have survived on forests and have been benevolently protecting the forests for ages. Owing to above problems, many scholars and administrators have proposed development minus the cost to environment and marginal citizens. 'Sustainable development' is being seen as a middle path solution to the problem.

Environmental Problems

Environmental degradation and climate change are burning topics worldwide these days. While common people are usually aware of scientific basis of environmental degradation, many people can't relate environmental problems to society. For this, we need to appreciate environmental problems as social problems. Most significant environmental changes today are anthropogenic, i.e. caused by human impact. Human impact is not the impact of a single individual, rather the degradation of environment is the result of group activities. Hence, the causes for environmental problems are social. Secondly, environmental problems lead to social problems. Hence there are social impacts of degradation.

Perspectives on Environmental Problems

Capitalism runs on the logic of maximizing profits. To maximize profits, capitalists try

to grow continually. No amount of profit is enough. Hence, more and more should be

produced and sold. For more production, more resources are needed. As we consume excessive natural resources, environmental degradation takes place.

Hence, capitalist growth becomes a treadmill of production. This concept was forwarded by Allan Schnaiberg (1980) to persuasively argue that it is the logic of capitalism, not technology that pollutes. Another important perspective on this issue is that of the school of social ecology. This school points out that different social groups have different norms and values in relation to the idea of environment. Hence the capitalists see environment as an aluminium mine to be extracted to maximise profits; the tribals, on the other hand, view environment as a benefactor. Hence they revere trees and animals and extract only that much of resources as can be sustainably extracted.

A third perspective is based on Veblen's concept of conspicuous consumption. In modern societies, the lifestyle of affluent people is dominated by consumerism. In consumerism, consumption becomes an end in itself. This happens when members of society generally believe that greater your consumption, happier you are. Truth is, greater consumption does not make you happier. But consumerism becomes an integral part of social values; hence needs become unlimited and even the government promotes spending to stimulate economic growth.

A popular perspective linking technology usage to environmental degradation is that of Ulrich Beck. According to Beck (1992), in every stage of history, technology has developed to harness environment. Technology is a primary tool of social change. However today's complex technology leads to pollution and degrades environment. Such complex technology is also prone to error. More the complexity of a technology, more is the risk of error. In spite of this our society uses it with the hope that in future, better technologies will be developed to compensate and overcome the effects of present technologies. Basically, our society 'risks' using these technologies, hence, Beck calls modern societies as risk societies.

Causal Factors of Environmental Problems

The relation between ecosystem change and proximate human variables is a complex one. Yet, we can group various major causes of environmental problems as under:

1. Consumerist culture

An individual's worldview is shaped by the cultural system she interacts with. One

dominant idea that has immensely affected the world view of people in modern societies is consumerism. Consumerist cultural ethos are based on the premises that buying and consuming will provide security as well as .personal happiness and satisfaction. Affluence is an indicator of social power and status in modern societies. In facts, people grow up imbibing consumerist lifestyles because of the influence of family and mass media. Such lifestyles put enormous pressure on nature. Excessive exploitation of environment is a result of over-increasing demands which are much beyond basic needs of people (Harper, 2004).

2. Social Inequality

Society can be construed as a hierarchy of classes. The people at the top of this hierarchy are less in number but extremely rich. Those at the bottom are poor. It has been seen that people at the top of the social hierarchy, as well as those at the damage ecological health more that those at the middle. The affluent, who can afford the most efficient of everything, damage the environment because of the volume of energy and material they consume. The poor damage environment not because they consume more but because they are able to afford only older, cheaper, less durable and more environmentally damaging products (Harper, 2004). Foremost Marxist scholar of India, Prof. A. R. Desai has shown in his work on Mumbai slums that many poor people are pushed onto fragile land where they make inefficient use of limited resources. Unfortunately, the affluent have means to adopt to environmental change, but not the poor. The rich can, for instance, install air conditioners to adopt the global warming. By doing this, they further increase their energy consumption. The poor, on the other hand, are directly affected by degradation of ecosystem.

3. Population

Resources such as food supply grow arithmetically, while human population grows

geometrically. A direct fall out of this is that at some point the food supply becomes

inadequate for the geometrically increasing population. Whenever this happens, the

government and farm entrepreneurs introduce new technology to drastically increase food production.

Rise in food supply 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 Arithmetic Growth

Population growth 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 Geometric Growth

For instance, the green revolution was needed because food supply could not grow at the rate population grew. High-yield-variety (HYV) seeds, canal irrigation, farm machinery etc. were new technologies introduced to increase food supply. Similarly, an acute shortage of food produce is felt on a global scale today. To tackle this challenge, biotechnology is being used to produce genetically modified (GM) crops.

So if technology can help feed the rising population, what's wrong? Fact is, high yield

variety crops replete the soil of many nutrients. The GM crops are even more dangerous. There are doubts that GM crops may disrupt natural food chains. Cross-pollination of GM crops and weeds produces 'superweeds' which are extra-resistant to weedicides and compete with natural plants for land space.

Another major consequence of high population is rural-to-urban migration. Due to migration, urban areas are over-populated. Slums and shanty human settlements make very inefficient use of energy, and further pollute the environment. Noise pollution, air pollution, and water pollution are problems created by high population pressure in cities.

4. Technology

In market economies, major role of technology has been to facilitate increasing

production. Industrial revolution was nothing but the introduction of technology for mass production. In the last hundred years, many new technologies have been developed to increase productivity. However, new technologies make our society more and more "risk society". The relation between technology and environment is pretty ambiguous. The global warming in last few decades is due to polluting technology. At the same time, there is hope that better and cleaner technologies will replace the present ones.

Concept of Sustainability

"Civilisation, in the real sense of the term, consists not in the multiplication, but in the

deliberate and voluntary reduction of wants" - Mahatma Gandhi.

Sustainability refers to the debate about the future of human civilisations in the face of unlimited human wants and limited carrying capacity of the adaptive system (nature). 'Sustainable' means any change that can be sustained without exhaustion or collapse. A sustainable society is one that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations from harnessing the physical and social systems of support to fulfill their needs.

The concept of sustainability is closely related to growth and development. What is

development? What is growth? Is it just an increase in per capita income? Can we have growth without compromising environment and our future? Do affluence and high growth lead to happiness and better quality of life?

There are three dimensions over which sustainability is spoken about:

1. Economics

2. Ecology

3. Equity

Economics looks into the possibility of growth and development without putting a strain on the adaptive sub-system of society. Ecology is concerned with the dynamic interaction between social system, organismic system and environing system. It primarily deals with the question of environmental problems and human ability to deal with it. Equity refers to social equity - both intra-generational and inter-generational. Within a generation, the affluent are bigger polluters and larger consumers; yet the poor suffer the most from pollution and consumerism. While the rich can mitigate (or adapt) to the ecological degradation (for example, by using AC to counter climate change), the poor have to suffer the ecological damage. Inter- generational equity deals with the question of justice to future generations which may suffer due to us.

Theories of sustainability

There are broadly two views on need for sustainability while one school of thought

believes that present level of consumption and affluence can be sustained in the future without putting any limit, the other view warns of serious consequences if social transformation towards a better management of resources does not take place.

The Optimistic View: Cornucopia

Some scholars are of the view that permanent sustainability and universal affluence is possible without any change in present trends. A popular scholar adhering to this view was Kahn (see Harper, 2004). Kahn believed that industrial revolution that started in the west in eighteenth century will spread to other parts of the world. As affluence and economic growth spreads, the population will also decrease in developing countries, as they have in developed countries. Borrowing from the demographic transition theory, he states that with development population will stabilise. Due to universal affluence (Kahn has visualized super-industrial societies to be widespread by 2175, that is, no developing countries) economic growth rate will stabilize. Rather than shortage of supply, there will be a reduction in growth of demand. Kahn is also optimistic that as new technologies have been developed throughout human history, new technologies will come for better extraction of resources, the way in electricity new energy sources such as nuclear power, solar power, wind power are being tapped.

This is a cornucopian (the property of being extremely abundant ) view of the future. In presenting this idea of a post-economic society, Kahn has made the following

Assumptions:

1. Affluence can be maintained even at reduced economic growth in 2175 and later.

2. Technological innovation will provide energy savings and will substitute new resources for scarce ones.

The Pessimistic View: World with limits

This view was first popularised by a think tank called the 'Club of Rome'. Unlike Kahn, they used elaborate computer simulation called World System Dynamics (WSD) model to arrive at their conclusions. WSD was developed by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) scientists.

The Club of Rome has argued that current exponential growth in population and food

production will produce such enormous stress in the carrying capacity of the planet by 2100 that the resources and capital inputs to support such consumption levels will not be sustainable. Capital investments can no longer keep up with growing needs. This prevents increase in water, arable lands, health care, education and other vital activities. World population and living standards will undergo a steady decline sometime during 21st century. Though the Club of Rome did not deal with geopolitics, it seems likely that under such conditions the present world order could be expected to become increasingly volatile and unstable (Harper, 2004). According to the Club of Rome, growth is not the solution, rather the problem itself. By the time the effects are visible, a variety of 'points of no return' would have been passed. Technological advances can only delay the inevitable but cannot reverse the process as growth itself is self-defeating in the long run.

Though pessimistic of present trends, the scholars in Club of Rome have not predicted a doomsday. Rather they believe that there is still time to avoid the collapse of civilisation. This can happen only if we place limits on consumption.

Poverty, Deprivation and Inequalities

What is poverty?

Poverty indicates a condition in which a person fails to maintain a living standard

adequate for a comfortable lifestyle. In other words, poverty is viewed as a level of living that is so low that it inhibits the physical, mental and social development of human personality. Amartya Sen, one of the most famous researchers on the topic, has given a more appropriate definition of poverty that completes Adam Smith’s approach. He defined poverty as the lack of what one needs to live within a society. In the broadest sense, it means survival but also contribution and participation to social daily activities. For example, you may have enough food or water but not the proper environment or education, health (hygiene) etc. that will let you enjoy it.

World Bank defines poverty as survival on less than $1.25 per day. This has been estimated in terms of Purchasing Power Parity (PPP). The government of India uses a method to measure poverty that is different from the World Bank measurement i.e. in India, poverty is officially linked to a nutritional baseline measured in calories (food-energy method). This is 2,400 calories a day in rural areas and 2,100 in urban areas. According to the latest figures released by India’s National Planning Commission, using the Suresh Tendulkar Committee’s method and the latest available sample data (which is for 2009-10), the new poverty line (in terms of money spent on consumption) is Rs. 27 per day per person in Rural areas and Rs. 33 per

day per person in Urban areas. Two types of Poverty (Measurement)

(i) Absolute Poverty

Absolute poverty refers to the inability of a person or a household to provide even the basic necessities of life. It refers to conditions of acute physical wants, starvation,

malnutrition, want of clothing, want of shelter, total lack of medical care. At times

“absolute poverty” is also called “subsistence poverty”, since it is based on an assessment of minimum subsistence requirement. Nutrition is measured by intake of calories and proteins, shelter by quality of dwelling and degree of over-crowding, and the rate of infant mortality and the quality of medical facility. In broader sense it suggested that one should go beyond the physical need and also include cultural needs—education, security, leisure and recreation.

(ii) Relative Poverty

Poverty according to this concept is to be measured according to standards of life at a given time and place. The idea is that standards of society can be changing standards. Definition of poverty should therefore be related to the needs and demands of changing societies. In 1960 those who had a per capita income of Rs.20/- or less per month in rural areas were considered to be below the poverty line. In 2011-12 those who have an income of less than Rs.816/- per month in rural area and Rs.1000 (Tendulkar Committee) in urban area are considered to be below the poverty line. The term “relative poverty” also refers to the fact that different societies have different standards; hence it is not possible to have a universal measurement of poverty. Those who are considered poor in USA by their standards may not be considered so in India.

Developmental Issues

At time of independence 50% population was BPL. There was no food to eat for many households. Nehruvian strategy emphasized growth of PSU to produce capital goods. Entire strategy as far as poverty was concerned is to remove poverty through growth. Strategy was to increase production of capital goods, which would offer machinery for production of consumer goods. As private enterprise is interested to invest here, for want of quick profits, it would generate employment. This would transform an agrarian society to an industrialized civilization where incomes would naturally increase. This would finally eradicate poverty as purchasing power of people will rise. Entire strategy was based on an assumption that we would have a ‘growth rate of 7%’. But this strategy didn’t work well due to reasons which are not under control:

(1) External aggressions (1962 (China), 1965 (Pak) and 1971 (Pak) war)

(2) Vagaries of nature (an unexpected change of something – natural calamities, flood, famine etc.)

(3) Idea of liberal democratic state made political elite to go for populist measures

than rational measures.

(4) Neglect of agriculture. Added to this there was food crisis as agriculture was monsoon dependent and this brought severe food crisis.

(5) Land reforms and green revolution accentuated existing disparities.

Therefore there was neither growth nor ‘trickle down’. In 1970’s, there was a direct assault on poverty through food for work programme, ‘Antyodaya’ and ‘minimum needs programme’. In 1980, IRDP was launched by combining these three. Also programmes like RLEGP, TRYSEM etc were started. Efforts did make an impact.

In 6th and 7th FYP, as growth started happening, we adopted a twin objective strategy. We wanted high growth to be sustained with direct assault on poverty. But a growth rate of 5% within a closed economy was unviable. Also we had Balance of payment crisis at end of 7th FYP and we reached a debt trap. We abandoned Nehruvian strategy here and brought LPG (Liberalization, Privatization and Globalization).

In reform period we had growth rate of 6% we did reach ‘high growth trajectory’. But

poverty continued to persist ‘obstinately’. Due to this there was mass unrest. Communal ideology is today succeeding because of urban poverty and due to failure of left ideologies to address and articulate interests of poor. Unrest has also contributed for rise of ‘Red corridor movement’ which disappeared in 1980’s. The imbalance has created various inequalities in our society.

Forms of Inequality

(a) At level of Caste: In India caste overlaps with class. After reforms, ‘rate of growth of employment’ has declined. Most of the unskilled workers are worst suffers. There is increasing casualization of work. The share of casual workers is high in SC and ST, to the already socially deprived situation, they also added economic deprivation studies proved that, per capita income consumption and expenditure of SC/ST section in both rural and urban areas declined. So, that is how, being low in caste also mean deprivement in terms of class. For ensuring, more economic growth, we went in for strategy of ‘SEZ’s and ‘export cities’. But this meant large scale displacement and problem of rehabilitation of poor farmers. For example: ‘Singur and Nandigram’. Issues are boiling even today.

(b) Educational disparities: At the primary level there is a marginal decline in disparities and inequalities between non SC/ST and SC/ST children. But beyond primary level disparities are very acute even now. At secondary level of education presence of SC/ST households are nearly ½ of non SC/ST households. Among SC/ST households only 15% children are present beyond primary level. Inequalities are cumulative. As caste is low, class is low, so no access to education, and so no employment so inequality widens. It’s a vicious cycle.

(c) Regional disparities: Another trend developing after reform is that certain states (Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Tamil-Nadu etc) achieved better HD (Human Development) and IMR indices, but others (BIMARUO) states lag behinds. Due to this regionalism is emerging in bitter form. Also competitive electoral politics is using the vulnerable and marginalized for their advantage to their disadvantage. Even in issues of health, there are regional disparities BIMARUO states have fared very badly. IMR and MMR of these states is deplorable. Also there is rural Vs urban health inequality. Most health infrastructure is in urban areas. So, inequalities exist.

After economic reforms there is increasing privatization of health care both in rural and urban areas. From this only middle and upper classes are getting benefits.

(d) Gender disparities: Another trend that is emphasizing the existing disparity is that, males in urban areas earn more than females, gender disparity is widening. Also urban employment is growing at 3% but rural employment declined from 1.7% to 1.46%. Wages in rural areas are declining; this brings 2 kinds of inequality i.e. Rural Vs urban and Male Vs female

According to, even though literacy gap is slightly narrowing between men and women, gains of employment between men and women are sharply unequal. Less than 15% of women with middle level education are in regular salaried jobs. Rests are in casual jobs. Most of illiterate women are in casual jobs. Casual work absorbs 50% of SC/ST workers and 17% of upper castes workers.

The NSSO report also contains striking information on daily wage rates of casual labourers and regular or salaried employees. Wages given to casual labourers in the government's job guarantee program (MGNREGS) were lower than similar work elsewhere and more than a third lower than other types of casual work. In the job guarantee scheme, male workers were getting an average of Rs 112.46 per day, while in non-MGNREGS public works the rate was Rs 127.39. In non-public works wages stood at Rs 149.32. For women, the average was more similar at about Rs 102-110, though lower than men for the same work. This appears to go against a widely held belief that MGNREGS wage rates are setting the standard for all other wages in rural areas. The wide difference in wage rates in urban and rural areas explains why people are migrating from their homes to live in cities to earn a living. A male casual laborer earned about Rs 150 per day in rural areas, but his urban counterpart got Rs 180 a day. Similarly, a salaried employee could earn about Rs 300 per day in rural areas but in urban areas the daily earning would shoot up to nearly Rs 450.

What are the causes of Poverty in India?

The causes behind poverty in India are manifold. Some of the major causes include license raj, absence of market economy, red tapism, the negative outcomes of liberalization policies, and centralization of industries. Given below are the different problems and issues that give rise to poverty among most of the people of the country: It is oftentimes difficult for the citizens of India or nearly impossible to get accessibility to essential amenities such as electricity, drinking water, healthcare and public transport. One of the most significant concerns for a big nation like India is the trouble to access the basic services.

Approximately half of the manpower of the country relies on agricultural and cultivation activities. The middle class is mostly affected by the food inflation, and echoes of dissatisfaction are rising among them.

Violence against Women

Violence is generally understood as illegal and criminal use of force. However the feminist view is that, the concept of violence must be broadened. Not only include illegal use of force, but also ‘exploitation’, ‘discrimination’, creating an atmosphere of terror or even forms of religion, culture and political violence as force.

In many forces, actual force may not be used. But a threat of force is enough to inflict ‘self-violence’. Those forms of violence which result on gender basis is violence against women. Traditionally, India is a patriarchal society. Manu in Manusmriti says that women should always be controlled and subordinated by male as a daughter, wife and mother. So, that is how religious sanctity is provided for subordination of women.

Relations are not only social but they are actually relations of power, relations of ‘domination’ and dependence. Patriarchy meant exclusion of women from various activities like education etc. patriarchal structure created ‘unequal relations’ between men and women which is primary factor responsible for violence against women patriarchy meant discrimination and exploitation of women along with denial of equality of rights. There are unequal social relationships from family to community. Due to entrenched and institutionalized ‘patriarchy’, there is structured violence against women in Indian society. Violence is built in patriarchal relations. Women today are seeking equality vis-à-vis men, which leads to retaliation by patriarchal structures leading to explicit violence against women. It is not men alone, but also due to women who have been co-opted by patriarchal system are equally responsible for violence against women. At home it is mother-in-law. Women run brothels to make other women prostitutes.

Yet another factor responsible for increasing violence against women is modernity. Modernity has a gender bias. Capitalist society with ethos of consumerism tends to

commodify women, by portraying women as an object of male sexual desire. Female beauty is defined only in terms of those parameters that make her sexually appealing to men. Surprisingly feminists rarely show dissent against the fashion industry. Modern industry pulled women out of closet and has put them on bill board/advertisement board/, commodification leads to perpetuation of violence. Entire process of modernization and globalization leads to progressive commodification of women.

Forms of Violence against Women

Violence against women starts even before they are born. A girl child is considered less desirable than a male child. Son is not preferred only because of dowry, but in the wake of ‘privatization of education’, sons are equally liability. So, having male child is not in terms of utilitarian attitude but it is deeply entrenched in the patriarchal structure.

National family Health Survey (NFHS) reports show that, 80% of women who had 2 sons didn’t want third child. So, small family norms are increasingly being accepted.

But more than 50% of women, who had 5 daughters, demanded one male child. Not only men desired, women also showed equal interest. Women equally internalized patriarchy. Women particularly in North India are in want of male child. North is the bastion of patriarchy in India. So, women want male child due to following reasons:

Men tend to be older than women. Also, women’s life expectancy is greater than men by 3 years. Women get married early and while they are young they become widows, due to husbands are older than women. Sizeable number of women who are 10 years younger than their husbands, need to spend 10 years of their life as widow. Widowed women can’t live with married daughters. So, she needs a son to spend her old age. So, because of internalized and deeply entrenched patriarchy there is a preference for male child. Modernization is working for patriarchy. We want to be modern in traditional terms.

There is selective abortion of girls child denying them even right to be born. More affluent the community greater is the bias against women. Punjab and Haryana, where the per capita is highest, the sex ratio is adverse. Even in Delhi, South Delhi has the worst sex ratio.

Child sex ratio especially at below 6 years of age is more worse. It is even worst in

Kerala which has overall better sex ratio. Along with this modernity is also working against women. Indian family has now accepted that a small family is better. Modernity due to Ultrasound, abortion, is working against women.

Girl child is generally neglected, denied health care, proper nutrition, education etc. Grandmothers’ prescription is used for a girl child. But for male child, it is always the doctor’s prescription. Jean Dreze did a study in Karnataka, where he put forth a female disadvantage index (FDI).

• If value of FDI is high it means entrenched patriarchy

• If value of FDI is low it means gender just society.

He collected data at district level in Karnataka. FDI levels: - Haryana: 70, Rajasthan: 60, Uttar Pradesh: 40, Karnataka: 3 Tamil-Nadu: 4 Coastal Andhra Pradesh: 6 and Kerala: 10 He found that Karnataka is a moderately patriarchal society. Health care was denied to girl child. Even mother shows a bias to a male child but not girl child though she is a women. So, there is an internalization of patriarchy. Women were also beaten up by husband.

There is also violence in the form of child abuse. In 1982, Dave conducted a study of

1000 victims of child abuse among girls. He found that 10% of the cases are sexual

Abuse. Another study in 1990 by Malvika shows that, in 1000 cases of rape, 1/4th happen to girls below age of 16. Also 20% of the cases to girls who are below age of 10, who have not even attained puberty. It is not a sexual intercourse for her but for the girl it is just an infliction of pain on her body. This kind of perversity is called pedophilia.

In women’s cell of Delhi Police, there was a study of women who have been raped between January-August 2012. It was found that 75% of victims are in the age group of 7-18 years. Only 57 rapes were unknown and the rest are known. Out of 681 rapes, 15 were by father and another 15 were by stepfather.

Overwhelmingly majority of rapes by persons whom the victim knew. Most of them were immediate neighbors, cousins, distant kin; and victim is stigmatized which is due to patriarchal bias which is the most intriguing and disheartening part of story. There is also sexual harassment in public places and place of work. This is generally due to internalization of patriarchy of treating women as an object of pleasure. There is also violence in conjugal homes. Wife battering is common in all classes. Even educated women experience it. There is also dowry harassment. Sometimes it leads to suicide/dowry deaths. Women are seen as a commodity or as a disposable item. Sometimes they are driven out of home for extra dowry. There are also cases of false allegations of extra-marital affair. Even after 6 decades of independence marital rate is not even recognized so far in law as violence. Also, as a wife, women if forced to give consent for sexual intercourse whenever husband demands. She doesn’t enjoy a sexual choice. Also widow remarriage as a stigma persists. After

Ethnic Conflicts

Ethnic group is a socio-cultural expression of race which is determined by common language, cultures and some physiological traits. India is a country of diverse ethnicity where hundreds of ethnic groups co-reside but due to the different language, culture and ethnic priorities they often come to loggerheads which result info ethnic conflicts. During ancient period various ethnic groups came to India like Huns, Aryans, Kushans Greeks, Romans and in medieval period Mughals, Mongols, Pathan came to India and during British period Britons, Portuguese, French, Dutch. Over the period, they became part of Indian society. Hence this led to development of diverse ethnic multi-linguistic society and because of their different backgrounds and priorities they come in conflicts.

During British period, two types of ethnic conflicts came to forefront:

1) Between the tribes and British Army or police in forms of revolts and rebellions

2) The most important one was self-respect movement in 1920s when Ramaswamy Nayakar started on movement against Aryans and Brahmins. Later after independence it carried in form of anti-Hindi movement in Tamil Nadu.

But, in 1920s onward Indian National Congress (INC) managed to unite this multiethnic society for the freedom movement but at the start of 1940s when freedom started looking to be realized, linguistic problems and other ethnic issues stared arising. After independence ethnic conflicts started in various parts of the country in following forms:

1) Mobilization and movement against the political supremacy of a particular ethnic

group and demand for separate statehood. For example, in Uttara Khand, Jharkhand etc.

2) Conflict against the economic dominance of a particular ethnic group. For example, against Marwaris, Biharis and Bengalis in North East states.

3) Conflict in the form of political autonomy or independent state like demand of separate Khalistan, Asom, Kashmir, etc.

4) Ethnic conflicts against outside migrants. For example, Marathi versus Madrasis, Marathi vs. North Indians, anti-Hindi movement in Tamil Nadu etc. As Salig Harrison said “Political reasons are more behind the ethnic conflict than the genuine social and cultural reasons.” In India, ethnic identity is used for personal political gains which turns into ethnic conflict. For example, present conflict between two ethnic communities Gujjars and Meenas in Rajasthan is not a socio-cultural problem rather it is meant for political gains and dominance.

Usually since India is a diverse society, hence occasional ethnic conflicts are always

possible but when it reflects in secession movements and anti-ethnic movement beyond the legal and constitutional parameters it becomes a challenge for a diverse society. Various committees have been formed to find out a solution to ethnic conflicts but ultimately no concrete solution has even been identified. But, through electoral reforms by discouraging ethnic issues for political gains can help to reach a permanent solution.

Communalism

In many parts of the world, communalism is a modern term that describes a broad range of social movements (ethnic allegiance) and social theories which are in some way centered upon the community. Communalism can take the form of communal living or communal property, among others. The term "communalism" is often used instead of "communism" as a way to denote those communal societies that are not based on Marxism.

Communalism arises among the society when a particular religious or sub-religious group tries to promote its own interests at the expense of others. In simple terms, it can be defined as to distinguish people on the basis of religion. According to famous historian Bipin Chandra Communalism consists of three stages one following the other. These stages are as:

1. The first basic principle of communalism ideology says that people who follow the

same religion have common worldly interests’ i.e. common political, social and cultural interests.

2. The second tenet of communal ideology states that political, social and cultural

interests of one religion are dissimilar and divergent from the interests of the followers of another religion, leading to religious separatism.

3. The followers of different religions or communities are seen to be mutually incompatible, antagonistic and hostile. This gives rise to hostility and conflict. This is how the fundamental assumption exists that worldly interests are shaped by religious beliefs. As such, it is not substantiated with facts. Sometimes people of same religion may have same class conditions and same life style and their worldly interests are same. But still conflict may exist between them as their cultures are different as they belong to different regime. There are inter-caste conflicts even in Pakistan among Muslims.

Causes of Communalism in India

Communalism in India is a problem of uneven modernization. Communalism surfaced in India only in late 19th century. Hindus and Muslims fairly fought the British in revolution of 1857. But as modernization began to spread, Muslims developed a feel and sense of deprivation for following reasons:

(a) Loss of power by Muslims in India for the first time in 1000 year and due to this many Muslims sink into poverty.

(b) Absence of middle class in Muslims.

(c) Most of socio-religious reform movements in Muslims tended to have revivalist

character except that of Aligarh movement.

For the first time, articulation of communal ideology surfaced at the passage of Morley-Minto reforms in 1909. It grafted communal electorates. It implied that political interests which are secular interests of Hindus and Muslims differed and are shaped by respective religious beliefs. Also the rise of RSS, Hindu Maha Sabha amongst Hindus, rise of IML amongst Muslims, accompanied with rise of other leaders like Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, Muhammad Ali Jinnah etc made communal ideology move virulent in character. The peak of communalism was seen in partition of India which saw a large human massacre. According to sociologist T.K. Oommen, the flaw was that India had democratization without secularization. A nation development should first witness capitalism, then modernity followed by secularization, and all these three prepares ground for democratization. Unfortunately this didn’t happen in India.

Political Organisation

At the level of ordinary men and women there was no communal divide in India till the elections of 1937. But in elections of 1937, the aspirations of political elite couldn’t be accommodated. It was the elite who engineered communal consciousness and it succeeded because modernization was uneven. So, we had political modernization without social and economic modernization. This is how communal ideology gained a firm footing in Indian sub-continent as it led to partition of India.

Economic Deprivation - Uneven development (After Independence)

However, even after independence communal tensions and conflicts had persisted, although we rejected idea of separate electorate. Even after independence the process of development was largely uneven. North India (BIMARUO) which are the bastions of backwardness in India has witnessed communalism.

So, it is primarily the result of uneven development where in, this ideology of communalism makes it plausible i.e. if people have different religious belief, their secular beliefs are different and opposed, this is because of uneven development. Muslims happen to be most deprived section of Indian society. Sachchar committee reports that, % of people BPL in Muslims is 47%. Most of these Muslims were skilled artisans who enjoyed the patronage of nobility. But with industrialization, their skills became redundant. As they slumped into poverty, they didn’t have education. Also, as there were no socio-religious reforms for spread of modern education, the Muslim was made illiterate.

Also most of Muslim elite, who were western educated, migrated to Pakistan during partition. So, the Muslim leadership in India fell in the hands of Ulemas. So, they prescribed religious education and proscribed liberal and utilitarian education. But to seek job, secular skills were required. This is how they became unemployed. So, the vicious cycle continues.

Study of Javed Alam in Hyderabad reports many of rickshaw pullers in Hyderabad are Muslims who were once artisans, but their skills became redundant in wake of

Industrialization. Parties like Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM) headed Owaisi in Hyderabad gained massive support of Muslims in wake of religious revivalism. It is because, MIM party advocated and participated in massive spread of vocational education to Muslims. Many ITI’s were opened up to help Muslim youth. This helped them to go for jobs in west Asia. This is how education alleviated these backward Muslims of Hyderabad. So, communalism is actually a result of deprivation. Muslims constitute 13% of India’s population, but its representation in government services is just 8%. Muslim representation in Civil Services is just 2-3%. Also presence of Muslims is overwhelmingly in manual jobs.

So, due to deprivation, hostility develops, it gives an impression that communal ideologies gets accepted. But there was no communal divide between Hindus and Jains, Hindus and Parsees, and Hindu and Sikhs and Christians. It is due to the prosperity of religion like Sikhism, Jainism, and Christianity that a communal divide doesn’t exist between these religions. When there is no material deprivation, no communal divide develops. Even during secessionist movement in Punjab, there were number of terrorist attacks in Punjab, but communal riots never broken out between Hindus and Sikhs.

Over Urbanization

Over-urbanization is also another reason for rise of communalism. Rural poor migrate to urban areas. When rate of urbanization exceed availability of civic amenities, it is called over urbanization. From 1981-91, population grew at 2.4% but urban growth rate was greater than 3%. Urbanization in big cities were of greater than 4%. At the same time slums were growing at 9%. All the migrants concentrated in slums. These migrants needed a community to belong to Caste can’t be a basis for solidarity, because caste is a local phenomenon and locally recognized.

These rural migrants can be mobilized on basis of religion. So, vested interests use these migrants for political mobilization. It is here that religious identities are strengthed. Ganesh festivals in Mumbai and Hyderabad are in practice an avenue to mobilize these laborers on religious lines. Also, most of communal riots are engineered due to lumpen proletariat. Communal riots are opportunities to loot and plunder for these sections of people. Religion is guise to plunder materials. Communalism in India is overwhelmingly an urban problem because they are deliberately engineered.

Religious Revivalism

Another cause for raise of communalism is due to heightened religious consciousness and due to the trend towards religious revivalism. In wake of industrialization and globalization, traditional identities are getting significance which is a counter acculturation response in the form of religious revivalism and religious fundamentalism and identity based politics. And more conspicuously the ideology of cultural nationalism is gaining widespread acceptance which is not suitable for a plural society. Today religion is being used as an ideology of protest. There is a conspicuous failure to use secular ideology as protest ideology. Also left ideologies have failed and at sometimes absent. So, religious ideologies entered as ideology of protest and contributed towards growth of communalism.

For last few decades the cultural revivalist movement has helped to increase Communal Tension. History of religious revivalism can be identified in the formation of Arya Samaj by Dayanand Saraswati, Muslim League in Dhaka, Ittehad-ul-Musalmeen in Deccan, Rashtriya Swayamsevak (RSS) in 1930s in India which became the pioneer of safeguarding the interest of particular community. After independence these organization continued on the name of cultural organization and various bigger smaller revivalist organization came into fore Bajrang Dal, VHP, Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), Akali Dal are some of the example.

These religious revivalism movement, parties and organization not only try to protect the interest of a particular religious community but also spread hatred, tensions, violence against the other communities. Because of Article 25-28 of religious freedom, has been technically unable to check these organization because on the name of religious freedom they mobilized and spread communalism in country.

Hence, to check on communal tensions, religious revivalist organizations should not flourish in a secular society. They are not only a challenge for culturally diversified society but also a threat to national unity. Hence, in the light of Article 25-28, specific guidelines are required to be formulated so that these organizations can be checked and the secular fabric of the society cannot be harmed. Ineffective Handling of Communal Riots When the government does not take proper action at the proper time, communalism spreads among the subjects. Sometimes the state governments have been proved ineffective to curb the communal riots in their respective states, this creates difference among religious groups. It also results in spreading the communalism. As the result of the above factors, communalism is raising its ugly face in India after the Independence and also creating great problems even in the working of Indian political system.

Remedies

1. The remedy of constitutional safeguards to root out the chronic malaise of communalism and casteism shall not have desired effect unless it is tackled by society itself.

2. Efforts should be made by the enlightened citizens to discourage the communal and caste based forces from the social, political and electoral process in order to make these forces irrelevant. They are to be opposed not to be appeased.

3. Communal carnage and caste wars should be dealt strictly with new strategies.

4. To usher an era of social equity and sarva dharma sambhava the people of India should not mix religion and caste with politics to attain the goal of common brotherhood for the unity and integrity of the nation.

Illiteracy and Disparities in Education

At the time of independence, when we drafted a new constitution, Article 45 in DPSP said that, state shall endeavor to provide within a period of 10 years, from the commencement of this constitution for free and compulsory education for all children, until they complete the age of 14 years. We made a promise that by 1960, we shall ensure that all children in age group of 6-14 years should complete their elementary education. Universalization of education was considered an important goal, but not important enough to be included as a fundamental right. It just remained a guiding principle. But unresponsive and sluggish attitude of the government to achieve the objective enshrined under Article 45 made judiciary to observe that illiteracy has many adverse effects in a democracy governed by rule of law. Educated citizens could meaningfully exercise his political rights, discharge social responsibilities satisfactorily and develop sprit of tolerance and reform. Supreme Court interpreted the provision of Part III and IV of the constitution and said that right to education is a basic fundamental right.

The Government of India by Constitutional (86th Amendment Act) Act, 2002 had added a new Article 21A which provides that "the state shall provide free and compulsory education to all children of the age of 6 to 14 years as the state may, by law determine".

Why this universalization of education?

(1) It leads to improvement in quality of human resources particularly in context of globalization, that a labor force which had 8 years of schooling can be more successfully trained in advanced skills.

(2) Even if they are not incorporated in industrial sector, study reported by Bal Gangadhar Tilak in Andhra Pradesh shows that, those who complete elementary education earn incomes twice that of illiterates

(3) Literacy opens up opportunities for self-employment

(4) Education, especially for women have been found to be positively correlated with

fertility decrease. Kerala success with all socio-economic parameters is primarily due to education. It also helps in gender equality.

(5) Provisions such as reservation to women SC/ST/Minority etc. and tribunals and grievance addressable mechanisms like consumer forums etc. became meaningful with education.

(6) Literate people are more aware of their rights. It would lead to social justice. Various local issues that effects many can be fought and addressed to, if educated.

(7) It would also lead to individual well-being. Individuals who are educated go for late marriages, greater say in family life etc.

But providing literacy through National literacy mission is not enough. It doesn’t contribute to sustained literacy. If people don’t continue to practice or use, they relapse as illiterates. Lack of practice makes even the educated as uneducated. Literacy campaigns are necessary but not sufficient. 8 years of schooling should be there for literacy to endure, literacy is crucial for making democracy meaningful, particularly grass root democracy.

Most developed countries achieved universalization of education and many developing countries have fared better than India. We have the unique distinction of having largest number of illiterate in the world. Our promise of universal literacy by 1960 is unfulfilled. By 2011, only 74% of people were literate. In case of women it is only 65%. So, little less than half of women in India are still illiterate.

Disparities become more conspicuous when we look at certain states. Certain district in Rajasthan, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Dalit women literacy is less than 5%. In 2014, data given by UNDP Human Development Report (HDR), showed, Mean years of schooling - India (4.42) fared bad then neighbors like Sri Lanka (9.2), China (8.34). Jean Dreze made another comparative study in 1995. In age 60+ population, at time of independence, China had 24% literacy and India had 27% literacy. So, we were ahead of China. But today in 15-19 years age group, we have 26% illiterates, while China has 3% illiterates. We have around 8 times more illiterates in India.

So, British can’t be blamed for low literacy levels. It is a post-independence government failure. It is India’s failure and this census enumeration doesn’t correspond to functional literacy. It is only a notional literacy. Even by notional literacy standards, 287 million are still illiterate.

This high incidence of illiteracy is a major handicap for rapid economic growth and to create a humane society. In absence of adequate amount of education, the demographic advantages would be neutralized. So, an opportunity in terms of rapid spurt of economic development would be lost forever.

The problem exists at three levels:

(a) Problem of access

(b) Problem of retention

(c) Problem of learning attainment

(a) Problem of access

Although in terms of quantity, we do have certain spectacular achievements. In 1950-51, total enrollment in schools was 2.4 crores. By 2003, number rose to 21 crores. So, an 8 time increase. Number of schools also multiplied. By 2004, we had 10.5 Lakhs schools, 17000 colleges, 329 universities. According to 11th FYP document, 85% of populations have access to school with radius of 1 km.

In spite of these achievements, more than 1/3rd of total population and little less than ½ of female population is illiterate. What we gained in terms of quantity is lacking in terms of quality. Most of schools are single teacher schools. No quality of teachers, % of such schools is greater than 20%. There is also absenteeism of teachers. There is no learning equipment, no safe drinking water and play grounds in schools. Also there are no toilets. This discourages girls to enroll and also is a major cause of dropouts as girls after attaining puberty would require a toilet due to menstrual cycles, which will make all the more conservative parents, disinterested in sending girl child to school.

Jean Dreze in a comparative study in 1996 shows that, 74% schools had black boards, 48% schools had a playground, 41% schools had drinking water through hand pump, 11% schools had toilets. This was his PROBE study (Public report on basic education). Other data from PROBE study

By 1998, teacher/pupil ratio at primary level: 1:42, at secondary level: 1:37 Effectiveness of education depends on number of teachers available. Ratio in India is higher than China, Cuba and Nepal. All these have ratios around 1:30. Poor quality of infrastructure is largely responsible for high dropout rates. Up to 5th class, almost 40% dropouts are there, in spite of increase in enrollment. It is not parental disinterest but poor infrastructure.

PROBE study tried to survey parental motivation in BIMARUO states. Almost 100% parents wanted their sons to go and attend school. 85-93% parents wanted their daughters to get educated.

Reasons for high dropouts

(1) 25% of girls in spite of free books, free education considers education very expensive. For them, even a soap to wash dress was very expensive. Such is the deplorable levels of poverty.

(2) 15% wanted daughters to help in household course.

(3) Nearly 30% of boys and girls thought that they are not interested in education and that education was not relevant to them. So, effort should be towards making the curriculum more interesting and providing education that provides skills for livelihood. So, education was a high opportunity cost for them.

(4) Even problem of retention is directly related to poor infrastructure. More dropout

rate in girls due to patriarchal reasons.

(5) There is also absence of female teachers, 30% of teachers at primary level are male. At puberty, parents don’t’ want their girl child to go to a school of male teachers. High enrolment shows high hopes of parents at starting, but soon disillusionment creeps in due to various factors.

Problem of learning attainment

Skills in literacy depend on having learnt what are supposed to be learnt. NCERT

formulated an index called Minimal learning Index (MLI) in mother tongue and maths so that it can be compared universally. The study says that quality of learning is a matter of serious concern in context of government run schools. Private schools Minimal learning Index (MLI) was a bit better. Even in Kerala where there was massive attainment in terms of quantity, Minimal learning Index (MLI) was found to be less than that of Bihar. This is an anomalous finding against the common sense assumptions. Though Kerala has atleast three teachers in all primary schools, quality of education in Bihar was comparatively good. Also, many private institutions are not ready run schools in rural areas. It is closely related with purchasing power of people. In rural areas, a teacher is given Rs. 500 and a classroom in Panchayat building is given for which no one is interested.

Rama Murthy committee in 1990 appointed by V. P. Singh government, recommended for spending of 6% of GDP on education and of this 2.8% for primary education. We are not able to spend on primary education due to subsidized higher education in institution like IIT’S and JNU. Wise spending must be done to achieve functional literacy in India.

Disparities in Education

Disparities plague education in India. Educational inequality is part of India’s society.

Traditionally India was a rigid hierarchical society. In this, access to education was

strictly regulated on caste basis. Manusmriti prohibits education for lower classes. Only Dwijas were allowed to have access to education. Education was esoteric in character and also religiously non-utilitarian.

Unlike China, S.E. Asia, where traditional hierarchy was successfully demolished, India didn’t succeed in this aspect. Traditional hierarchy based on caste, wealth, prestige, status and power remained unaltered even in course of modernization.

Colonial rule introduced secular, utilitarian education in India. But even during this period, progress of Indian education system was uneven. Two types of inequalities were injected during colonial rule.

(a) Rural Vs Urban, we maintained this divide even after independence. 95% of

educational institutions are in cities. Even agriculture universities are found in cities.

(b) Higher education developed faster than school educations and it continues even today. Primary education in rural areas is declining.

Modern education is also knowledge and capital intensive. To do well in modern system of education, access to knowledge is required. Those communities, who traditionally didn’t have access to education couldn’t do well in education. Children of illiterate parent of rural background were not able to comprehend the curriculum.

Bordeaux called it ‘cultural capital’. Certain culture is acquired in home which determines their performance in schools. Low caste communities lack in culture capital. Ramanamma and Usha Bhambavale (Maharashtra based sociologists) conducted study about learners’ achievements. Child from urban area of literate parents, from urban middle class community can absorb 95% of curriculum.

A child from rural area, of illiterate parents, rural middle class couldn’t absorb even 60% of curriculum. So, the plight of rural low castes is even more lower. This is the consequence of knowledge intensive and capital intensive education. It requires high finances. For both these reasons, even modern education injected new inequalities.

Various forms of inequalities:

(a) Caste based inequality

(b) Gender based inequality

(c) Class based inequality

(d) Region based inequality

(e) Religion based inequality

These are the various levels at which disparities have grown in modern education.

(a) Caste based inequality

Dalits Vs Forward Caste (FC)

At the most fundamental level, a persisting gap exists between oppressed and rich.

This inequality exists even at higher levels also according to data released by MHRD, representation of Dalits in higher education is 7%, while population of Dalits is greater than 15%. So, it is less than what it ought to be. So, disparity continues throughout. States of Himachal Pradesh and Kerala have literacy of 80% and above even in Dalits. Literacy rate among girls is 80% and boys from Dalits have literacy rates greater than 85% in Kerala. But in states like Bihar, overall literacy rate among Dalit women in 23%. In Rajasthan it is 22%. Regional, gender and caste disparities overlap. So, there is cumulative disparity, especially in BIMARUO region. Even dropout rates among Dalits are higher than general population. According to NSSO survey in mid 1990’s more than 40% of Dalit children were out of school, while for other groups, it was only 28%. Drop out rate among Dalit girls in 50%, but in other castes it is 36% only. Another study in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar conducted by Shrivastava in 1999, show that 50% of Dalit children are out of school. If we take into account the class dimensions, poorest Dalit children number around 75%. In Andhra educational attainments of Malas is better than Madiga.

In North India, Chamars and Mahars are well-off than other Dalit castes. So, there are internal disparities within the vulnerable also, which is all the more deplorable.

Various factors are responsible for it

(1) Lack of tradition of learning or what Bordeaux calls cultural capital

(2) Incidence of poverty which is highest among Dalits

(3) Because of poverty, opportunity cost tends to be high.

(4) Most of teachers are Non-Dalits; there is a discriminatory attitude even from teachers, classmates who belong to upper castes, though Jean Dreze report says that it reduced to appreciably extent. In some schools of Tamil Nadu, even now there exist two tumbler systems. So, there still exists the discriminatory attitude. A study in Azamgarh and Ballia districts in Uttar Pradesh explains dropout phenomenon in Dalit children.

(a) Discriminatory attitudes of teachers.

(b) Non-cooperative of attitude of upper caste classmates.

There were cases, where teachers took bribe to promote students, for which Dalit parents couldn’t afford. Also classmates of Dalit students who belong to upper castes would be sons and daughters of landlords, with whom the Dalit parent would be an employee. NSS study reports class based inequalities. They devised an Index called Mean per capita expenditure (MPCE). It was found that where MPCE is high, attendance in schools was greater than 90%. In low MPCE groups attendance was less than 50%, which generally is the low caste community.

Also, higher education disproportionately benefitted upper castes than lower castes. Even in higher education, for every one girl seeking education there are four boys. Even if they get job, they get only in low authority jobs like nurses, teachers, receptionists etc. Even in civil services, women’s representation is less than 10%, except in Indian postal services.

The following are the factors for it

(1) Continuing patriarchal bias, early marriage. Household role is considered as foremost goal of a girl and she grows thinking that education is less relevant for her.

(2) Poor quality of education, lack of access, lack of infrastructure in schools. So, dropout rate is high.

(3) Jean Dreze says that, girls are mainly withdrawn from schools mainly due to dismal facilities of educational system.

(4) Education system also creates a bias against women by glorifying men, and women learn to think that men are always greater than women. NCERT study confirms it. Mandal commission report says that, 19% of employees are from SC/ST. 13% from OBC. They are generally found in class 3 and class 4 jobs. But more than 50% of jobs in class 1 officers and especially in central ministries were from Brahmins.

Simon Chichi study in Maharashtra shows that, most of Dalits seeking higher education were in D-category colleges. This is how class and caste gets superimposed. Also, gender disparity is found in education. Literacy rate of women from Dalits were 8% at time of independence. Due to patriarchal society, girls were excluded from educational system. Even in 2011, male literacy was 82%, while female literacy was only 65%. Disparity between male and female literacy was 25% in 1961. This disparity today is 17%, which shows a narrow down of just 8% points, though in absolute terms numbers increased.

Study by Nidhi Mehrotra of Uttar Pradesh on Gyan Bharti Hindi text book schools. It

carries 49 pictures of boys in heroic and valiant role. Although it carries 14 pictures of girls, it showed women in subordinated roles like, a mother cooking, nurses assisting male doctors, tying Rakhi etc. But boys are shown as a king, poet, philosopher etc. The message is that women’s place is at home and that she is always dependent on male. Educational system itself nurtures bias and it is reinforced by going to schools. Even in pictures, heroic roles are reserved for men.

Literacy rates in ST’s are more worsens than SC’s. As per 1991 census, it is 29.6% for men and 18% for women. Dropout rates in schools among ST’s are higher than any other group at rates more than 60%.

Tribal areas are more interior than rural areas, so access to education is worst. Uneven terrain, lack of infrastructure doesn’t create an interest among teachers also to get posted there. Also, no tribal dialect is used as medium of instruction. So, tribal’s find it difficult to learn. Also most of culture is designed on culture of plains and they don’t get to read anything about them. Also, attitudes of teachers are discriminatory. Even in higher education, ST representation is less than 2% though their population is more than 8%.

There are also religion based disparities. Christians are more advanced in terms of

education, while Muslim are most backward. There were no socio-religious reform

movements among Muslims which focused on secular, non-utilitarian education. 47% of urban Muslims 37% of rural Muslims are BPL. Sachar committee report says that Muslim representation in higher education is worst. There are also regional disparities. BIMARU region is the bastion of backwardness in India including educational backwardness. Sex ratio, IMR, MMR is worst here. Gender based and caste based discrimination is highest here. All this makes educationally also this area most backward.

Rural Vs Urban divide created due to British education still exists. Also there is no

infrastructure. Work is also agriculture and labor intensive. So, scope for education is

less. As population is growing at an alarming rate, literacy becomes an issue of priority. There are 287 million people non-literates in India. Literacy is linked with health, and health is linked with population. Dedicated programmes like ‘Teach India’ programme can create a huge impact. It needs to become a social movement. We need to put girls on equal footing with boys.

We also need to realize that literacy is not synonymous with education. We need to take a hard look at schooling system. We have not made much head way in education. As there is no reinforcement of education, literates become illiterates. National literacy mission needs to be energized. Vicious cycle needs to be broken. Private sector need to feel corporate social responsibility. Private sector can bring efficiency and play a supportive role. Non-formal institution and NGO’S should be involved to promote literacy. Teaching has become last resort today. So, teachers need to be paid well today. We need to create an army of teachers to uproot the problem by which a humane and just society guided by principles of humanism can be created through education.