New Delhi, Oct 25, A study has found that Dalits and Muslims face discrimination in the private job sector just on the basis of their names.
The study by University Grants Commission, Chairperson Prof. Sukhdeo Thorat for his Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, has found that fewer people with Dalit or Muslim names find jobs in private sector than equally qualified persons with high caste Hindu names. “Having a high caste name considerably improves a job applicant’s chance of a positive outcome” it says.
The report- along with three other studies on discrimination in the Indian job market, health and education sector- will be discussed at a two day seminar on ‘Social Exclusion and Inclusive Policy’ on Friday.
In his study, Thorat says: “we speculate that if caste and communal discrimination are evident even at his early phase of the application process in India, then final hiring decisions are unlikely to be equitable”.
As part of the study, 4808 application were filed for 548 jobs advertised in English language newspaper in a period of 66 weeks starting from October 2005. The response from the corporate sector indicates Muslims are the most discriminated, followed by Dalits. And chances of higher caste Hindus, with same qualification as Dalits and Muslims, getting the job are much higher.
In another study conducted by Princeton University among students of Delhi University, JNU and Jamia Milia Islamia, it was found the Dalits prefer public sector jobs. About 45 percent of Dalits respondents said they wanted public sector jobs like in Indian Administrative Services or Indian Police Services; and another 28 percent wanted to be in academics.
“This reflects the operation of the affirmative action policy, which is applicable only to public sector enterprises and leaves the private sector completely untouched” the study conducted in 2006-07 says.
The probable reason for Dalits students preferring public sector obs is that they lack prior job experience, an advantage non-reserved category students have. This, the report says, ia a pointer to the discrimination against Muslims and Dalits in the job market.
Source: Hindustan Times