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On Backwardness And Fair Access To Higher Education In India: Some Results From Nss 55th Round Surveys 1999-2000

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  • K. SUNDARAM

    (Delhi School of Economics)

Abstract

Against the backdrop of policy of reservation of seats in Higher Education for the Other Backward Castes in India, this paper examines two inter-related yet distinct issues: (i) the use of economic criteria for assessing the backwardness of different social groups and (ii) assessment of fairness of access to higher education of an identified “backward” social group. On an analysis of the NSS 55th Round Surveys for 1999-2000 we show that on a range of economic criteria there is a clear hierarchy across (essentially) caste-based social groups with the Scheduled Castes (in Urban India) and the Scheduled Tribes (in Rural India) at the bottom, the Other Backward Castes (OBCs) in the middle and the non-SC/ST Others at the top. However, for the poor among them, there is more of a continuum across caste-groups with surprisingly small differences between the OBCs and the non-SC/ST Others. On the issue of fair access to higher education, it is argued that the extent of under-(or over-) representation of a social group can only be judged by a comparison of a social group’s share in enrollments in a given level of education with its share in the population eligible for entry into that level of education. And it is shown that for the OBCs as a group, and especially for over 70 percent of them who are above the poverty line, the extent of under-representation of the OBCs in enrollments at the under-graduate and post-graduate levels is less than 5 percent. We conclude, therefore, that a 27 percent quota for the OBCs, which would effectively raise their share in enrollments to over 50 percent when their share in the eligible population is 30 percent or less, is totally unjustified.

Suggested Citation

  • K. Sundaram, 2006. "On Backwardness And Fair Access To Higher Education In India: Some Results From Nss 55th Round Surveys 1999-2000," Working papers 151, Centre for Development Economics, Delhi School of Economics.
  • Handle: RePEc:cde:cdewps:151
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    Cited by:

    1. Jannet Farida Jacob, 2018. "Higher Education in India from 1983 to 2014: Participation, Access and Labour Market Outcomes across Socio-religious Groups," Indian Journal of Human Development, , vol. 12(1), pages 74-92, April.
    2. Ashish Singh, 2011. "Farm income inequality and the role of caste: new evidence from India," Economics Bulletin, AccessEcon, vol. 31(4), pages 2847-2862.
    3. Sujoy Chakravarty & E. Somanathan, 2008. "Discrimination in an elite labour market? Job placements at the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad," Discussion Papers 08-01, Indian Statistical Institute, Delhi.
    4. Suhail Ahmad Mir & Shaswati Pramanik, 2017. "Socio-religious affiliation and higher education participation of Muslim minorities in India: a probit analysis," Journal of Social and Economic Development, Springer;Institute for Social and Economic Change, vol. 19(2), pages 365-386, October.
    5. Basant, Rakesh & Sen, Gitanjali, 2009. "Who Participates in Higher Education in India? Rethinking the Role of Affirmative Action," IIMA Working Papers WP2009-11-01, Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad, Research and Publication Department.
    6. Singh, Ashish, 2010. "Does returns to farming depend on Caste? New evidence from India," MPRA Paper 26526, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Zacharias, Ajit & Vakulabharanam, Vamsi, 2011. "Caste Stratification and Wealth Inequality in India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 39(10), pages 1820-1833.
    8. Vani K. Borooah, 2017. "Measuring Inequality of Access to Higher Education in India," Journal of Quantitative Economics, Springer;The Indian Econometric Society (TIES), vol. 15(2), pages 241-263, June.
    9. Reddy, A Amarender, 2013. "Rural transformation since 1970s in Dokur Village of Andhra Pradesh, India," MPRA Paper 30784, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 30 Nov 2013.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    India; Social Groups; Backwardness; Poverty; Caste-based Reservations; Fair Access to Higher Education.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I - Health, Education, and Welfare

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