{"id":133644,"date":"2021-09-13T20:19:29","date_gmt":"2021-09-13T14:49:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.forumias.com\/?p=133644"},"modified":"2021-09-14T21:13:34","modified_gmt":"2021-09-14T15:43:34","slug":"shifts-and-stagnancy-in-the-caste-profile-of-our-asset-rich-and-poor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/shifts-and-stagnancy-in-the-caste-profile-of-our-asset-rich-and-poor\/","title":{"rendered":"Shifts and stagnancy in the caste profile of our asset rich and poor"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Synopsis: <\/strong>India\u2019s debate on modifying affirmative action policies should be informed by an understanding of the trends observed so far.<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/h5>\n

There are increasing demands for a caste census and the removal of a 50% cap on reserved seats for central government jobs and admissions to the central educational institutions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Read more: <\/strong>Caste based census in India \u2013 Explained<\/strong><\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The 50% cap was breached in 2019 when an additional 10% quota came into place for India\u2019s economically weaker sections (EWSs) on top of the already-existing 49.5% reservation. (27% Other Backward Classes (OBCs), 15% Scheduled Castes (SCs) and 7.5% Scheduled Tribes (STs)).<\/p>\n

In addition to this, various state governments in India also implement their own reservation in the name of affirmative-action policies.<\/p>\n

A new study to understand the caste dynamics<\/strong><\/h5>\n

An asset index, using individual-level data from the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) for 2005-06 and 2015-16 has been constructed. It takes into account a wide array of assets like consumer durables and vehicles.<\/p>\n

This helps us understand how different caste groups in the country are placed in terms of prosperity and poverty.<\/p>\n

It defines the bottom 20% of the population as \u2018asset poor\u2019<\/strong> and the top 20% of the population as \u2018asset rich\u2019<\/strong> based on the asset index score.<\/p>\n

Asset-poor<\/strong>: Those who hold less movable or immovable assets as compared to others.<\/p>\n

Asset-rich<\/strong>: Those who hold more movable or immovable assets as compared to others.<\/p>\n

The study compares changes in the share of each caste group<\/strong> in India\u2019s population over time and their share among the asset-poor and asset-rich<\/strong> in India and its major states.<\/p>\n

Findings at all India level<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Asset
Source: Livemint<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OBC<\/strong>: representation of OBCs in both asset-rich and poor categories is in line with their share in the population. Their share among the asset-rich has seen an increase between 2005-06 and 2015-16.<\/p>\n

Among major states<\/strong>: OBCs are most over-represented among the asset-rich in Tamil Nadu. They are under-represented in Gujarat, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh.<\/p>\n

SC and ST: <\/strong>Represented more in the asset-poor category and under-represented in the asset-rich category.<\/p>\n

SCs and STs are under-represented in the asset-rich category in all major Indian states, with the most under-representation relative to their population share in Odisha and the lowest in Punjab.<\/p>\n

General Category<\/strong>: \u00a0They continue to form a higher share of the asset-rich than their share in India\u2019s population. General-category Indians are over-represented in all states among the asset rich.<\/p>\n

How states formation itself can be linked to such variance of the population?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Some states in India were linguistically formed<\/strong>, whereas others owe their formation to similar cultures and ethnicity.<\/strong> This suggests there may be one of the drivers of the sub-national differences in welfare outcomes in India.<\/p>\n

Also, people in some states tend to be politically aware<\/strong> and act collectively on a range of issues, while people in other states have low levels of political awareness and have a deeply divided society<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

What should be the future research?<\/strong><\/h5>\n

More work is needed to understand how State policies have contributed to the advancement of different groups<\/strong> in different categories. Such studies would also help states<\/strong> in making evidence-based policies for affirmative action<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Source: <\/strong>This post is based on the article \u201dShifts and stagnancy in the caste profile of our asset rich and poor\u201c <\/strong>published in Livemint <\/strong>on 13th<\/sup> September 2021.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Terms to know<\/strong><\/p>\n