Caste aside by private sector   

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 Professor Sukhdeo Thorat for his Indian Institute of Dalit Studies, has found that fewer people with Dalit or Muslim names find jobs in the 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 sectors - 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 this early phase of the application process in India, then final hiring decisions are unlikely to be equitable." 

As part of the study, 4,808 applications were filed for 548 jobs advertised in English language newspapers 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 the same quali- fications as Dalits and Muslims, getting the job are much higher In another study conducted by Princeton University among students of Delhi University , Jawaharlal Nehru University and Jamia Millia Islamia, it was found that Dalits prefer public sector jobs. About 45 per cent of Dalit respondents said they wanted public sector jobs like in the Indian Administrative Services or Indian Police Services; and another 28 per cent 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. Students from non-reservation categories, on the other hand, are likely to take up jobs as business analysts or corporate planners (19 per cent compared to 9 per cent Dalits), or in the social or development sector (15 per cent compared to 2 per cent for Dalits). Relatively fewer (12 per cent) non-reservation students view the Administrative Services as ideal, the study says. The probable reason for Dalit students preferring public sector jobs is that they lack prior job experience, an advantage non-reserved category students have.  This, the report says, is a pointer to the discrimination against Dalits in the job market. (Source: October 26, 2007, Hindustan Times)