exclusive inequalities
TRANSCRIPT
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Exclusive Inequalities- Response Paper
In the essay written by Satish Deshpande, he examines the problem of Caste reservations,
discriminations against lower castes now known as SC/ST/OBCs and the importance of Merit within
the Indian society.
A survey conducted by NSSO in 1999-2000 regarding the number of graduates and post graduates in
urban India, showed the dominance of Hindu upper castes when it came to higher education. The
Hindu upper castes were more privileged and occupied more than 60% of the total graduates in
fields like medicine, engineering, agriculture & non-technical subjects. Their share in the highly
educated is twice their share in the general population.
Inequality and discrimination might be necessary but it isnt enough to prove the existence of
injustice as said by Deshpande. The Hindu upper castes believe it is injustice towards them when
reservations are made for the lower castes while inequality and discrimination towards the lower
castes exist from before, the lower castes believe they can finally catch up with the unfairly
privileged upper castes.
Firstly, Higher education isnt a fundamental right unlike primary education, health care etc.
everyone has a right to educate themselves primarily but no person of any caste has a right to
become a highly educated professional compulsorily. Secondly, because of its nature it is a selective
field which gives it the face of elitism as Deshpande puts it. Higher education functions like the
funnel effect meaning some are left out and some get through. Because of this there is a need for
some sort of examination to sort out the applicants. According to him examinations are a form of
legitimized exclusion to discrimination. The more sought after a field is, the more the competition
will be and the stricter the examination will be. Thirdly, higher education plays the role of nurturing
and preparing the present to face the future. It can be exempted from the normal rules and
responsibilities of life as it isnt a compulsory tool for life.
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He moves on to talk about higher education in poor and big countries. In the first feature he talks
about how the elite are going out of the country for basic undergraduate studies and the middle
classes are moving on from state schools to private ones. But state institutions for higher education
like IITs and IIMs are sought after as they offer world class education at a subsidised fee and with
the implementation of quotas, everyone gets a fair chance unlike in previous times when the
privileged class would be given admission on the basis of them being well off. The second feature
being that it is considered as credential capital in todays world.During the era of Nehru, many
upper castes converted their landed assets into credential capital and managed to occupy important
positions in society today. The third feature is that it is seen as resource discrimination. We know
of the advantages higher education gets an individual. It gets a person access to certain economic
and political resources and guarantees an edge over others. Merit discrimination is considered to be
desirable and legitimate while resource discrimination isnt. the fourth being that it functions as an
avenue of mobility and is seen to help lower classes move upward in society.
The connotations and denotations of examination and merit acquaint us with the benefits of higher
education and about its exclusivity. The social functions of exams are to produce evidence of
inequality within candidates and to say no to a large number. While on t he other hand they are
measures of realising ones capability and potential and moral worth.
He concludes the piece by talking about merit and resource discriminations and says that merit
alone is not the sole reason for caste discrimination. There are other intrinsic factors responsible
too. Deshpande has taken facts from the NSSO to explain the current conditions of respective castes
within the society regarding higher education. He could have explained certain conditions in a better
manner and does not clearly explain why Hindu UCs are elite institutions.