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

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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?

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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.

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Social Exclusion practices 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

Table 1 Caste based indicators in India

Source: Based on Thorat, 2005, NSS, ODI

•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 non-existent

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Social Exclusion context in Bihar

All SC Dhobi Pasi Dusadh Chamar Bhuiya MusaharLiteracy rate (persons) 28.5 (Bihar),

national: 54.7

43.9 40.6 33.0 32.1 13.3 9.0

Literacy (female) 15.6 27.9 25.3 18.5 16.8 6.5 3.9

School enrolment: 5-14 yrs

29.4 45.6 39.4 34.1 33.7 15.1 9.8

Cultivators 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

3.3 9.6 12.2 1.6 2.1 1.0 0.8

Other workers 11.2 27.5 29.0 12.2 9.8 5.6 4.0

Source: Census of India, 2001

•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

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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.

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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

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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 Reservation policy: out-put based model to address discrimination of socially excluded groups: SC & ST

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 criterionEntry 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 societyDifferent genre of exclusion: horizontal inequalities?

Jeevika SHG: Bottom-up self- help-groups based on participatory methods for better livelihood, wellbeing

To help socially excluded poorest rural women achieve livelihood securities&wellbeing for themselves& family

Individual&collective agency building

BPLSC &ST rural women,no more than 2 members from same family allowed in one grp, age no barrier to membership

State assistedsecular model,bank linkages after 6 mthsregular weekly savings, lending, repayments, pyramid structure

Social & economic empowerment of the rural women, financial security, dignity in life, access to public services,

Super 30: Bottom-up model based on tCapabilityApproach to help youth from impoverished backgrounds to access opportunities

To enable youth with potential ofdeprived backgrounds to access skills&knowledge needed to gain entry into elite engineering institutions

Individual agency buildingExpanding instrumental freedoms

Teenagers from backward socioeconomic backgrounds demonstrating interest and potential inmathematics and science

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?

*Off-springs of those SC-ST cohorts who are already beneficiaries of the Reservation PolicySource: Author’s research

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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