Folks,
In this thread, that has morphed into one of discrimination against Dalits and the efficacy and fairness of the reservation system, the most pertinent references provided so far are these two, one provided by Shri KRS, and the other by HH and Zunedune.
The movie, India Untouchable, clearly shows that the continuing, widespread and intolerable oppression of Dalits is undeniable. The elaborate longitudinal study presented in the paper cited by Shri KRS clearly and undeniably shows how important the reservation system has been and how unfinished the job is.
I saw the entire movie. What is amazing is not the ignorant Brahmin from Kasi or the Upper caste NB bragging about keeping the Dalits in line through fear, but it is the complete disconnect between the views of the Upper Caste of Kerala that simply dismisses that untouchability even exists any more in Kerala, and the real oppression the Malayalee Dalits narrate. A lady claims very casually and without any trace of irony, that she is not caste-conscious but will marry only within caste. The first step to solving a problem is to recognize the problem exists, and it seems we, as a society, are yet to get to the first step.
There are many heartbreaking scenes in the movie. Among them are, the casual way the Dalit girls narrate how they take turns cleaning toilets and how many buckets of water they need to wash away the filth, the boy who explains he rather not eat lunch at school at all than have to sit separately, and many more. We as a society hammer in caste inferiority into their psyche day in and day out, and then we want a caste-blind system. Why caste has to be taken into account in any redress is illustrated in this 40 second
clip.
Now, to the paper Shri KRS cited, I read the entire paper, highlighted it and reread it. This paper looked at individual-level survey data, gathered by National Sample Survey (NSS) between 1983 and 2000. They examined success rate at each of five transitional stages of education, (i) enrollment in primary school, (ii) completion of primary school, (iii) completion of middle school (8th grade), (iv) completion of secondary school, and (v) completion of college degree. They also looked at other factors such as family income, rural/urban domicile, etc.
I give you couple of their major findings.
The disparity in success rate at early stages of educational transition has narrowed, i.e., between Dalits and High Caste Hindus, the difference in probability of enrollment in primary school, completion of middle school, and completion of secondary school, have narrowed over time between 1983 and 2000. But, at the stage of college admission and graduation, the probability gap has remained steady, no improvement. This is what Shri KRS cited as proof of failure of the reservation system even after 60 years.
But the authors attribute this to the fact that more and more Dalit children are becoming eligible to advance to college level and that is why the gap has remained stable over time. They cite another research study to point out that the educational inequality will remain unchanged until enrollment at a given level reaches a saturation point estimated at around 95% of the population completing that level of education. Obviously, we are nowhere near this figure, thanks to the continuing oppression as evidenced by the movie India Untouched.
A second major point they present is about the so called creamy layer. Their analysis over time on family income scale shows that at all income levels Dalits fair significantly below upper caste Hindus. Here is a telling conclusion of the authors, "
... our results suggest that even upper-class dalits fail to achieve their educational potential, and hence class-based affirmative action may not remedy all of the caste-based inequalities."
People who offer episodic and personal anecdotes to promote their own pet theory about the "utter failure" of the reservation system need to cite well researched and peer evaluated studies to support their assertions, or keep their peace.
Cheers!
p.s.
Among many other interesting findings presented in the paper is the fact that Muslims are steadily loosing ground in education over the years. This is an ominous trend. A free, thriving, confident, and successful minority is the perfect antidote to extremism.
