Defeating Global Poverty

The Economist recently wrote about (article: With reservations) the current debate within India about whether the existing affirmative action (called "reservations" in India) quota legislation for the poor should be extended from higher-education education and government jobs to private companies.

First, there are a variety of viewpoints of who should get affirmative action benefits. Historically, these benefits have mostly been allocated to dalits (aka untouchables) and tribal peoples. Some now advocate that these reservations should also apply to the [much larger group of] lower caste peoples (some estimate at 500M+ in India) and non-Hindu poor including Muslims. There are many complicating factors and opinions on this due to the significant political partisanship of many of these groups. See my post on the India caste system for more details on this.

Second, there is a significant difference in attitude to caste within urban environment (where caste is discriminated against less) and rural (where it is still very strong). This makes it difficult to create laws which have the intended benefits of removing discrimination while not unhelpfully propping up those who don't need the help and abuse these guarantees.

Third, the article notes that another confusing factor is that low-caste Indians are getting less poor at almost the same rate as the general population. The statistic they note is that between 1983 and 2004, the low-caste Indians spending power increased by 26.7% compared with 27.7% for the average Indian (source: National Sample Survey Organisation).

Fourth, there are also regional differences. In northern India, they note that for historical reasons that commerce is dominated by members of a few business castes, while in south India the business community has been more open to members of non-business castes.

So, does it really make sense to extend affirmative action quotas en masse to the private sector? Is this the right approach and priority to helping the poor? What do others think?

Labels: affirmative action, caste, dalits, india, poverty

I recently blogged about how the caste system was being lived out on the streets of India in the life of one very poor dalit woman.

About a month ago, (yes, I'm behind on blogging) the Wall Street Journal wrote a front-page weekend edition piece called "Caste Away" about a dalit (aka an Untouchable) who has attempted to break into the fast-growing, professional IT business in India. The article tells the story of how Mr. Thoti was been discriminated against throughout his attempt to build a career. There are moments of hope when he finds hiring managers who are color-blind to the caste system, but this is the exception rather than the rule. Even the chief economist of the Royal Bank of India (equivalent to USA central bank), another rare dalit success story, still faces discrimination.

If you are interested in further reading, there is a book written over a century ago by Mahatma Phule called Slavery which argues that India's caste system is similar to the slavery issue faced by the USA.

The India Caste System Overview

At the top of the caste system are the brahmins ... historically the priests and by far are the current ruling class (almost every institution) in India today. Then their nearest high-caste cohorts are the kshatriyas (warrior caste) and vaishyas (merchant caste). The vaishyas overwhelming oversee the banking and financial systems in India. The Sudras are the low-caste peoples ... numbering over 500 million in India! ... who are identified with a particular occupation (e.g. potter's caste, shepherd's caste, buthcher's caste, etc.) And then below the caste system are the dalits or untouchables.

Here is a picture of the caste hierarchy.

What is interesting is that the dalits, while still overwhelmingly extremely poor, are often better off than the low-caste peoples. Part of this is due to the affirmative action setup for dalits.

Have you experienced the caste system? Please post a comment (and please include your caste name in your comment!)

Labels: caste, india, poverty

I recently finished reading an interesting book by Narendra Jadhav called Untouchables: Family's Triumphant Journey Out of the Caste System in Modern India. If you want to understand India and how to be effective in accelerating impact on poverty there, you need to understand the caste system and how it affects how the vast majority of people think in India.

If you think the India caste system is dead, all you need to do is open up any Indian newspaper and turn to the classifieds section for people seeking marriage partners. Almost all of the ads are explicit about the caste system of the ad buyer as well as the caste requirements of the spouse they are looking for. The explicit caste recognition is less front-and-center in other social spheres, but it is very much there under the surface and affecting how people think about themselves and each other.

This book is a biography of a dalit family living through The Great Depression, the India independence movement and up to today. Dalits are also known as the out-castes or untouchables. They are lower than the lower-castes as they are below the caste system. It is a story of triumph and yet a call to continue to fight to break the caste slavery system.

Read my longer book review

Labels: book reviews, caste, india, poverty