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

Warning ... this video is not for those with a weak stomach. But it does seem to be an authentic day-in-the-life video of a dalit woman in India.



The dalits (aka Untouchables) are at the bottom of the caste ladder in India. Many people describe the caste system in India as an apartheid or slavery system (see my recent book review on Slavery by Mahatma Phule) ... at least as powerfully entrenched as historically in South Africa and the USA respectively.

I asked a friend ... why do the local people continue to defecate on the street when there is a free nearby toilet? He said that they do this because it is a way of showing their superiority knowing that this woman will clean up for them. The caste system is not just about the high caste abusing the lowest castes, but every level of caste abusing those lower in the hierarchy.

So, this woman has a job. She earns 3,000 rupees per month or about $2/day. She has an outstanding debt (most likely from a money lender) of 10,000 rupees (about $200) for which she pays 1/3 of her income for interest only (10% per month interest!) ... and no principle. She likely had a family medical emergency/tragedy/wedding which forced her into debt and now she is basically a slave to this debt seemingly indefinitely.

You can tell this woman to simply quit her government job, but unless she has some other method of earning income, she will be even worse off. She appears on statistics as "employed", but I don't think many of us would consider this viable (and certainly not sustainable) employment.

My friend said ... "this is why India so critically needs more microfinance." Microfinance would provide this women with a small loan to use her industrious spirit to earn more take-home money and allow her a path out of her debt enslavement and likely death from the hazards of her government job. Maybe providing better government jobs would help some people, but that seems like an insufficient response.

I agree with him. What do you think?

Labels: dalits, government jobs, india, poverty