In search of models for Social Inclusion:
case studies in rural and urban Bihar,
India
Development Studies Association Conference
Development Paths: Values, Ethics and Morality,
London, November 5, 2010
MeeraTiwari
m.tiwari@uel.ac.uk
1
In search of models for Social Inclusion in India: case
studies in rural and urban Bihar
• Introduction
• Social exclusion overview, practices in India and the
context in Bihar
• The policy framework for social inclusion in India
• Grassroots social inclusion models in Bihar
• Top down state model and the grassroots bottom up
approaches – what can be learned?
2
Social exclusion overview, practices in India and the
context in Bihar
• The meaning: not being being a part of or be able to participate
in the society where the individual lives
• The literature: broad Aristotelian perspective of human life,
further enriched by the contributions of Petty, Quesnay and
Adam Smith amongst others
– Lenoir (1974), Silver, 1995; Gore and Figueiredo (1997); de Haan and
Maxwell (1998), Sen(2000), Thorat(1999-2004), Buvinic(2005)
• Indian SE practices: rooted in cultural stratification of the society
going back thousands of years based on caste and ethnicity
• Bihar: rigid ‘semi-feudal’ tendencies, complex social-exclusion
politics and fragile state structures.
3
Social Exclusion practices in India
•High prevalence of caste based exclusions
•Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) & some religious minorities comprise
socially excluded class in the post independence era.
•SC and ST make up a quarter of India’s population & make up the biggest deprivation
cohorts
•Benefits of occupational specialisation through intergenerational engagement nonexistent
Table 1 Caste based indicators in India
SC
ST
Non-SC/ST
Poverty, rural (%)
36
46
21
Poverty, urban (%)
38
35
21
Child Mortality (per, 1,000 births)
39
46
22
Assets per household (‘000 rupees)
49
53
135
Percentage of wage labour, rural
61
49
25
Literacy, rural (%)
51
45
63
Literacy, urban (%)
68
69
82
4
Source: Based on Thorat, 2005, NSS, ODI
Social Exclusion context in Bihar
•Lowest HDI in all of the 15 major states of India
• India’s 3rd most populous state, accounts for one-seventh of India’s BPL poor
• 90 % of its population in the rural sector with a poverty incidence at 41 %
• 70 % of households are landless/near landless, 25 % of landless are SCs , 15 % are Muslim
•SCs = 15 % of state population, 93 % reside in the villages, comprise 23 sub-castes
• Horizontal inequalities deep rooted and visible within the SC communities in Bihar
All SC
Literacy rate (persons) 28.5 (Bihar),
national:
54.7
Literacy (female)
15.6
Dhobi Pasi
43.9
40.6
Dusadh Chamar Bhuiya Musahar
33.0
32.1
13.3
9.0
27.9
25.3
18.5
16.8
6.5
3.9
School enrolment: 514 yrs
Cultivators
29.4
45.6
39.4
34.1
33.7
15.1
9.8
7.9
14.8
12.3
10.3
7.9
6.6
2.7
Agricultural Labourers 77.6
48.1
46.5
75.9
80.2
86.8
92.5
Household Industry
workers
Other workers
3.3
9.6
12.2
1.6
2.1
1.0
0.8
11.2
27.5
29.0
12.2
9.8
5.6
4.0
Source: Census of India, 2001
5
The policy framework for social inclusion in India
•
Adopted in 1950, Article 13 of the Constitution of India provides:
– justice, equality and fundamental human rights to all citizens
– to address the suffering of a large cohort through social exclusion,
•
GoI’s well-defined affirmative action – the Reservation Policy in state & state
supported sectors:
– Reservations for SCs and STs in proportion to their share of population
– Relaxations in the minimum age for entry & minimum standard of suitability.
– Three key domains targeted: employment & promotion in govt services, entry to state
run educational institutions & representation in the legislature.
– In govt services SCs&STs have reserved quotas in all but defence & judicial services.
– In education, SC & ST students have reserved places in all govt educational institutions.
– In political representation, SCs&STs have reserved constituencies in central & state
legislatures
•
The framework incorporates complementary provisions to enhance the abilities
of the SCs and STs to avail the opportunities offered through the reservation
policy.
6
Grassroots social inclusion models in Bihar
JeeVika: a state supported initiative, based on ‘savings-led’ self-help-groups
for the poorest and the most socially excluded women
•
•
•
•
The conceptual model for JeeVika is rooted in participatory and capability
approaches to development
Focal point of the process: the socially excluded rural and her ‘agency’
Objective: livelihood opportunities and wellbeing
Outcome: overcoming the exclusionary practices, empowering the women to
participate in the society they live in
Super30: athird sector initiative for affirmative action to enable teenagers
from backward socioeconomic classes to pursue the aspiration of
education in elite engineering institutions
•
•
•
•
Rigid selection criterion of poor socio-economic background
Children of richshaw pullers, street hawkers, manual and landless labour and
subsistence farmers – the most likely livelihoods of the SC communities in the
state
Objective: Capability & skill enhancement of youth to compete & seek entry into
the highly ranked technical institutions
Outcome: Assimilation & participation in society as equals & be recognised for
their diligence, determination & intellect
7
Top down state model and the grassroots bottom up
approaches – what can be learned?
Affirmative
action models
Objective
Mechanism
Criterion
Special
features
Outcome
GOI: Top-down
To mitigate
discrimination
experienced by SC
&ST communities,
foster social
inclusion of these
classes
Physical targets:
Reservation of seats
proportional to SC,
ST population in:
govt services, state
educational
insts&legislature
All SC & ST,
Socioeconomic
background not a
rigid criterion
Entry to ‘creamy’
layer* remains
contentious,
Relaxation: of min.
age of entry,entry
requirement,
Promotion quotas,
Provision to enhance
skills noted, weak
implementation
Better opportunities,
Stigma remains: seen
to have lesser skills
&knowledge,slow
integration in society
Different genre of
exclusion: horizontal
inequalities?
Social & economic
empowerment of the
rural women,
financial security,
dignity in life, access
to public services,
Reservation policy:
out-put based model
to address
discrimination of
socially excluded
groups: SC & ST
To help socially
Individual&collecti BPLSC &ST rural
excluded
poorest
ve agency building
women,no more than
Bottom-up self2 members from
help-groups based on rural women achieve
livelihood
same family allowed
participatory
securities&wellbeing
in one grp, age no
methods for better
barrier to membership
livelihood, wellbeing for themselves&
family
Teenagers from
Super 30: Bottom- To enable youth with Individual agency
potential ofdeprived building
backward
up model based on
backgrounds
to
Expanding
socioeconomic
tCapabilityApproach
access
instrumental
backgrounds
to help youth from
skills&knowledge
freedoms
demonstrating interest
impoverished
needed to gain entry
and potential in
backgrounds to
mathematics and
access opportunities into elite engineering
institutions
science Policy
*Off-springs of those SC-ST cohorts who are already beneficiaries of the Reservation
Jeevika SHG:
State assistedsecular
model,bank linkages
after 6 mthsregular
weekly savings,
lending, repayments,
pyramid structure
Removal of financial
barriers: Free
coaching & lodging
for the selected
cohort, basic costs
for education in the
mathematics school
Better capabilities of
the socially exld.
youth& their entry
into professions,
social assimilation
without horizontal
inequalities
possible?
Source: Author’s research
8
Tentative conclusions
• Could the national Reservation Policy be more effective?
– Top down output based national Reservation Policy needs to be revisited
• Who & what is the focus – the socially excluded individual or higher
representation of SC/ST in
• Increasing horizontal inequalities through the current model
– Further research needed to investigate the implementation of the
framework for complementary provisions to enhance the abilities
• Grassroots models focus on the capability deprivations of the socially
excluded individual
– Individual and collective agency to overcome the exclusionary practices
– Capability enhancement to expand and access opportunities in life
• Complementarity needed between top down and bottom up
approaches?Thank you
9