...AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN INDIAN CONTEXT Article 46 of the 1950 Constitution states “The State shall promote with special care the educational and economic interests of the weaker sections of the people, and, in particular, of the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes, and shall protect them from social injustice and all forms of exploitation.” India’s affirmative action (AA) program is primarily caste-based, although there are similar norms for women in the electoral sphere. AA in India is debatable for three reasons • There is considerable argument over the assessment of caste disparities, the reason behind the existence of AA. • There is a larger debate about whether caste is the valid indicator of backwardness or should it be defined...
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...The debate on affirmative action in India is long and not always geared to the desired aim: creation of equality of opportunity. Just like Indian secularism, reservation system in India has always a different political aim to make the system more unequal than what it is. Indian secularism, rather than making the state independent of religion, is intended to provide special privileges to certain religious groups. Similarly Indian affirmative system is politically designed to provide restricted rights not equal rights to some chosen people. The affirmative action in India has started perhaps by Vice-Roy Curzon in 1905 by banning the employment of Hindu Bengalis in the government services; the official argument was that they were too advanced and taking away job opportunity from others particularly the Muslims. Later it was extended in the military services by giving preferential treatments for Muslims and Sikhs branding them as martial races. Reservations in government jobs were introduced in 1918 in Mysore in favor of a number of castes and communities that had little share in the administration. In 1909 and in 1919 similar reservation system was introduced for the Muslims in British India. In 1935, for pure political reason the British government has provided job reservation for the backward castes. The real idea was to divide the population of India into several warring groups along religious, ethnic and caste lines by giving special rights so that future India would be divided...
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...Preferential treatment is the act of providing an individual or group with superior advantage. This may be because of the color of their skin, age, race, or culture. One might argue that this is also the same definition of Affirmation Action. It is not out of the norm for one to discuss their similarities, but what is rarely discussed is the difference in outcome both have on the human race and the global economy. With thousands of applicants applying being denied for their Ivy-league college admission and another million out of the workforce it is clear there is a dire need of assistance in these areas. Affirmative action has been a major contributor to depreciating these skyrocketing numbers, giving many minority Americans a chance they may not have been previously fortunate enough to receive. The goal is not for preferential treatment, but to provide all Americans with an equal opportunity at success. This can only be done with the implication of Affirmative Action and other policies alike. It is well known that for many of us, education is the gateway to receiving advancement in a remarkable career and maintaining a prestigious economic status. Armed with this knowledge, millions of Americans feel that it is imperative to attend college and complete graduate studies. In order to compete in this dog eat dog world, one must do whatever it takes to stay one step ahead. Unfortunately many minorities are not able to compete, due to not being able to further their education. Few...
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...AFFIRMATIVE ACTION What is affirmative action? As your advisors, paid handsomely to represent the issue of Affirmative Action in the United States to you, we have gathered and analyzed the core considerations surrounding the issue. We see that there are immense difficulties in reconciling opposing moral views, and that empirical data does not reveal an obvious truth. But there can be much gained in way of a better understanding of the issue in spite of these obstacles if we can take a holistic approach to the problem. Affirmative action is a two-pronged effort that includes “the right of all persons to be accorded full and equal consideration on the basis of merit” (K.U Medical School) and, concurrently, a policy of actively “hiring and promoting qualified individuals in protected groups such as minorities, disabled veterans, Vietnam-era veterans and women” (U. of South Dakota). It was created to focus on education and jobs, and the policies were put in place to take active measures, under the framework of non-discrimination, to ensure that disadvantaged groups that had prevalently suffered discrimination have the same opportunities as whites. The U.S. Department of Labor describes affirmative action as the “ban[ing of] discrimination and requir[ing of] contractors and subcontractors to take… action to ensure that all individuals have an equal opportunity for employment, without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or status as...
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...Globalization and the Caste System in India Mimi Winters Abstract India has experienced significant economic growth as a direct result of globalization even during the current global economic crisis. Yet many argue that this success does not reach all levels of Indian society. Indeed, some argue that globalization has actually had a negative impact on the lowest members of Indian society, the Dalits. This paper explores both sides of the argument by briefly explaining India’s 3,000-year-old caste system and its influence or lack of influence on the reduction of poverty among the Dalits. Globalization and the Caste System in India India is becoming one of the most significant players in the world economy today. Its rapid economic growth can be contributed to its increasing role in the global community. “Economic liberalization, including industrial deregulation, privatization of state-owned enterprises, and reduced controls on foreign trade and investment, began in the early 1990s and has served to accelerate the country's growth, which has averaged more than 7% per year since 1997” (Central Intelligence Agency, 2012, para. 3). India’s GDP was estimated at $4.463 trillion with a real growth rate of 7.8% and $3,700 per capita in 2011 (2012, para. 14). A majority of this success can be directly contributed to globalization. Although growth is expected to slow due to the global economic crisis, India is still experiencing a positive...
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...Jermaine R. McCrossin Intro to Criminal Justice Professor Odem Final Should Affirmative Action be used to eliminate injustice? I believe that Affirmative Action can be used to eliminate injustices; it all depends on how it’s used. First to speak about Affirmative Action I’d like to explain what it is, how it came about, what it’s like in other parts of the world, and how “Affirmative Action” is viewed today in society. Lastly, I’d like to explain my point of view and how I came to it. Affirmative Action refers to policies that take factors including race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or national origin into consideration in order to benefit an underrepresented group in areas of employment, education, and business usually justified as countering the effects of a history of discrimination. Affirmative action is intended to promote equal opportunity. It is often instituted in government and educational settings to ensure that minority groups within a society are included in all programs. The justification for affirmative action is that it helps to compensate for past discrimination, persecution or exploitation by the ruling class of a culture, and to address existing discrimination. The term "affirmative action" was first used in the United States. It first appeared in Executive Order 10925, which was signed by President John F. Kennedy on March 6, 1961, and it required government contractors to "not discriminate against any employee or applicant for...
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...Amit Pati PGDM 20160009 Individual Report Of Reservation Reservtion in India is a form of affirmative action designed to improve the well-being of backward and under-represented communities defined primary by their ‘caste’ (quota-system based on ‘gender’ or ‘religion’). These are laws wherein the certain percentage of total available vacancies in educational institute or government jobs are set aside for people from backward communities and others like SC, ST, OBC are the primery beneficiaries of the reservation policy under the constitution. Reservations per say has really failed to deliver the intended objective. Which is to uplift the down trodden and reduce the huge gap between the forward and the backward class . In the almost 60 years of its existence it has kind of consolidated a deep rooted belief amongst the scheduled caste that it is their right to get quotas and freebies and they need not have to make efforts to acquire skills to be competitive .There is quota in education and there is quota in jobs. The entire approach has been flawed .Mostly because the original well intentioned reservation policy thought out by the framers of the constitution was manipulated by later order politicians solely with the intention securing votes.None of the government machinery's has bothered to evaluate the extent to which benefits have percolated.Instead of creating more schools and educational institutions it went about reserving quotas.If the govt had provided a high class free...
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...Table of Contents Introduction 2 Research Methodology 3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: 3 SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS: 3 SOURCES OF DATA: 3 STYLE OF WRITING: 3 MODE OF CITATION: 3 Affirmative Action for the Disabled in the International Forum 4 General International Norms Pertaining to Persons with Disabilities 6 Specific International Measures Relating To Persons with Disabilities 7 Affirmative Action for the Disable in India 11 Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2011: A Critical Analysis 16 Bibliography 19 Statues 19 Books 19 Articles 19 Reports 20 Miscellaneous 20 Introduction According to the World Health Organization, “Disability is an umbrella term, covering impairments, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. Impairment is a problem in body function or structure; an activity limitation is a difficulty encountered by an individual in executing a task or action; while a participation restriction is a problem experienced by an individual in involvement in life situations. Thus disability is a complex phenomenon, reflecting an interaction between features of a person’s body and features of the society in which he or she lives.” Disabled people the world over experience discrimination and inequality. Many people with disabilities do not have equal access to health care, edu¬cation, and employment opportunities, do not receive the disability-related services that they require, and experience exclusion from everyday life activities. Following...
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...Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese and later by other countries around the globe in search of power. During the 16th century, it went through the process of colonization, on April 1500 by a Portuguese diplomat on their way to India for goods. Brazil first colonizers were the Native Indians in the country, at first the Indians and Portuguese worked together during harvest but later on the Portuguese decided to enslave them. Since the enslavement of Indians did not work out they turned to the African slave trade for their workforce. For the next two centuries after the discovery of Brazil, it had to deal periodically with foreign powers on the hunt for Brazil’s resources. Such countries as England, France, and Spain sought out to fight the...
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...of business and organizations. Globalization requires multinational organizations to eliminate borders and barriers of trade between nations resulting in a shift in traditional patterns of investment, production, distribution and trade. Due to elimination of geographical boundaries, multinational organizations face some unique cross-cultural people management challenges that can be addressed by effective diversity management initiatives. In this paper, I will present solutions to such unique issues from a hypothetical leader’s perspective. In the first section of the paper, I will explain the concept of diversity management through a thorough literature review, and propose an effective leadership style that can help to reinforce the affirmative action plans and foster diversity in multinational organizations. In the second section, I will assume the role of a human resource practitioner in a hypothetical multinational organization and explain my role as a transformational leader in solving a cross-cultural people management issue. Diversity Management Although...
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...conducted by the National Centre for Promotion of Employment for Disabled People, an organization working as an interface between the government, industry, non-governmental organizations and international agencies, to promote employment opportunities for people with disabilities in India. The aim of the study was to identify the current practices of Indian industry with regard to the employment...
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...Unit 6: Diversity and Affirmative Action Lecture Reading: (1) “Diversity,” by George Sher; “A defense of Diversity Affirmative Action,” by James Sterba; Barbara Grutter, Petition, v. Lee Bollinger, et al. (including dissent and amici briefs)(U.S. Supreme Court); Local 28 Sheet Metal Workers’ Intl. Ass. V. EEOC (U.S. Supreme Court); Unit # 6 Lecture. Case #2 Mr. Sing’s idea of hiring only Asian people for the waiting positions made sense. The whole idea around the authenticity of the Chinese restaurant was the environment. People go to eat Chinese food at a Chinese restaurant want to bona fide Chinese experience. This reminds me of the Hooters case that was all over the news several years ago. A man applied for the food serving job in Texas and was turned away for obvious reasons. I believe he ended up settling. The judge should have thrown out that case to begin with. Let me expand on this a little. I was in India a couple of years ago on a business trip. During that trip, I became very close to a few customers. One evening during dinner and some drinks, someone mentioned something about “female” belly dancers in India and that I should check them out. I was not sure what to think at that moment, but reluctantly said, “Sure, we should go some time before I go home.” About two days before the planned excursion, I read an article in the newspaper that some 20% of the belly dancers were actually male dancers, and not women. I immediately went to the customers and...
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...subordinated to the male and this remained a prominent feature both in the rural and the urban areas. In urban areas a little improvement is due to enhanced level of education and economic independence in women. There is very less distinction of educated and uneducated as that of religion in this regard. The situation is improved with regard to political empowerment especially with the allocation of 33% seats in local government in South Asia but in most of the cases this change is not satisfactory. The real empowerment would be achieved only if it would be accompanied by the social and economic empowerment. For that purpose, society has to be changed at large. Such change cannot be materialized only through any coercive legislation or strong state action in the blink of an eye. But the fact remains there that in societies where all the changes start from top to bottom these measures along with a strong political will can stimulate a change to improve the situation gradually. This paper discusses the measures taken by different governments in South Asia to achieve the goal of political empowerment and participation of womenfolk in the decision making process at all levels. By analyzing the implications and the practical aspects of these measures and the problems of women at domestic and societal level this paper also suggests the proposals to make the environment conducive for implementing 152 Pakistan Vision Vol 10 No 1 revolutionary steps by the government with the help of civil...
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...requirement that the shortlist for each senior job should contain a woman. Since 2007, the proportion of women in senior positions has risen from 23% to 28%. More than 50% of our graduate recruits are women. In principle, the pipeline is being filled, but our task is to ensure many more reach the top levels. HUMAN AND LABOUR RIGHTS Unilever’s approach to human and labour rights is set out in our Code of Business Principles. We are signatories to the UN Global Compact, support the ILO conventions and are working to develop a more inclusive approach to human rights based on the Ruggie principles. However, problems do occasionally surface. In the past three years we have dealt with concerns about contract labour in Pakistan, union recognition in India and allegations of the use of...
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...It is a generally well-known fact that the world, overall, has an ageing population. This is especially true when looking at the population of India. From 1950 to 2010, India’s population aged 60 and older has risen from 5% to 7.5% (Bloom, Mahal, Rosenberg, and Sevilla, 2010, p. 60). Considering India’s life expectancy for both men and women in 2014 was less than 70 years (Saharan, 2014, p. 261), the fact that the population aged 60 and over has increased by 2.5% in 60 years is extremely influential to the economy. There is little governmental support for these elderly citizens, which leaves the burden of supporting them financially to their younger family members. In many cases, elderly citizens no longer live with their families, or their families do not earn enough to financially support the elderly person’s needs, and therefore the elderly citizens, and often their families as well, slip into poverty. In order for India’s economy to continue growing, policies in India must be changed to account for the increasing life expectancy and the increased number of elderly citizens. Before we can examine the economy and the required policy changes, we must look at the population of India. In India, there is currently a falling fertility rate and an increasing life expectancy (Bloom et al., 2010, p. 61). This means that less children are being born, but people can expect to live longer. Looking at Figure 1, we can see that in 2010, the population was largest in the 0-14 age range...
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